In Pictures.. A 45-Million-Year-Old Egyptian Fossil Reveals a New Genus of Crocodiles

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In a groundbreaking scientific discovery that proves the world's museums still hide amazing secrets, a recent international study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal for 2026 has revived a historic Egyptian fossil found in Mokattam Mountain in 1927, dating back about 45 million years.

The study, led by the Egyptian team from Mansoura University’s Vertebrate Paleontology Center under the direction of Dr. Hisham Salam, revealed a completely new genus of crocodiles named "Herogavialis," as the fossil currently preserved in the Stuttgart Museum in Germany tells new chapters of Egypt's ancient geological history.

The story of this achievement began when the historical sample - known for decades as "Tomistoma cairinensis" due to the shape of its skull and long snout - underwent precise anatomical and evolutionary examinations using the latest digital technologies.

Researchers explained that the previous belief linking the fossil to the false gharial has completely dissipated, necessitating the reassignment of the species to its new scientific name "Herogavialis cairinensis," which rewrites the evolutionary history of gharials in Egypt and North Africa and their relationship with the Mediterranean Sea during the middle Eocene period.

The study explained that the choice of the new genus name carries unique symbolic and historical connotations linking it to the heart of Egyptian civilization, as the fossil was found in the Mokattam geological formation associated with the rocks of the famous Sphinx statue, noting that it is striking that the crocodile's skull lacks the front part of its snout in a remarkable visual similarity to the missing nose of the Sphinx.

The study continued that the segment "Hiro" from "Hiru" or "Horus" was inspired by the name of the ancient Egyptian god associated with the Sphinx during the New Kingdom when he was known as Hor-em-Akhet, meaning Horus in the horizon, while Gavialis refers to the evolutionary relationship with the modern Indian gharial, linking the name of the capital Cairinensis to an epic discovery that spans millions of years.

In a special statement to "Al Arabiya.net" and "Al Hadath.net", Dr. Hisham Salam, one of the team members, confirmed that the importance of the study lies in reconstructing the evolutionary history of crocodiles and understanding the ancient environments of Egypt, which were characterized 45 million years ago by shallow and warm seas where whales, mermaids, and long-snouted crocodiles lived, pointing out that these results are the fruit of an initiative to study Egyptian fossils abroad that the center adopts to invest in the forgotten scientific treasure in international museums.

For her part, Dr. Sarah Saber confirmed that the development of imaging and analysis techniques proves that museum fossils never lose their luster, while researcher Bilal Salem added that "the fossil is not new, but the new question is what has changed our understanding of its evolutionary identity."

For his part, Paul Burke, a researcher at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the lead author of the study, explained that the Egyptian fossil fills an important gap in understanding the diversity of gavialids in the Mediterranean before it declined during the late Eocene and Oligocene due to climate changes and the retreat of sea waters, only to reappear later with rising temperatures in the Miocene.