In the Egyptian Western Desert, near El Quseir, an Egyptian research group has just discovered a new species of prehistoric crocodile, the Wasdiscus kasabi. And that of the group led by Sara Saber and Belal Salem is an exceptional discovery: according to experts, in fact, this crocodile lived for approximately 80 million years ago (era dating back to the Campanian), and this makes it the oldest known member of the dirosauridae.
The fossils in question (two skulls and three mandibles) belong to a new species part of the dei family Dyrosauridaeprehistoric crocodiles similar to current species, characterized by a very long snout. The species was named “Wadisuchus kassabi” and its discovery is very important, because it allows us not only to understand some evolutionary characteristics of crocodiles, but also because the fossils, being found in Campanian layers, precede those of the Maastrichtian (between 70 and 65 million years ago), the period in which until today it was believed that the species of the family of crocodiles had evolved. Dyrosauridae.
Compared to subsequent species, the Wadisuchus kassabi it had a smaller number of teeth, all smaller, which fit between the two arches in a different way than current crocodiles. Furthermore, the nostrils were located higher on the snout. These archaic features, observed in the most ancient Dyrosauridae known so far, have made it possible to clarify some aspects of the evolution of crocodiles that have remained little understood until now.
These species probably originated in North Africa, from where they later spread to South America. In a period preceding the Maastrichtian, however, some of them – having now evolved on the American continent – returned to Africa.
