A remarkable fossil find is offering scientists a glimpse of a vanished marine world that lay hidden beneath Egypt’s desert sands for more than 70 million years.
The team unearthed 14 fossil teeth from five extinct shark species, among them a type that may not have been documented in Africa before.
With the latest discovery, researchers say the number of shark species known from the site has risen to at least seven.
The ancient remains point to a striking transformation: what is now one of the planet’s driest landscapes was once covered by a warm, tropical ocean filled with marine life.
The fossils were found on the Abu-Tartur Plateau in Egypt’s Western Desert, an isolated region known for its phosphate-rich rock layers.
The shark teeth showed notable variety, ranging from slender, needle-shaped forms to wide, serrated examples, along with one distinctly curved specimen.
That diversity in shape indicates the ancient sharks likely fed on different kinds of prey and filled different roles in the prehistoric food web.
Combined with traces of small fish, invertebrates and formidable marine reptiles, the shark fossils paint a vivid picture of a thriving ocean ecosystem where Egypt’s desert now stretches across the horizon.
The discovery was made on Egypt’s Abu-Tartur Plateau, a remote stretch of the Western Desert rich in phosphate deposits. Above is a mine in the Abu-Tartur Plateau
The team suggested that powerful ocean currents likely carried nutrient-rich water toward the surface, helping plankton and other small organisms thrive.
That abundance of food supported an entire marine food chain, from small fish and invertebrates to medium-sized sharks and enormous predators. Marine reptiles also lived in parts of the region, according to the study published in the journal Cretaceous Research.
Some of the sharks typically lived closer to shore, while others preferred deeper waters. This suggests the fossils accumulated over time and came from several different parts of the ancient marine environment.
Overall, the findings reveal that the area was once a rich and highly productive ocean ecosystem during the Late Cretaceous period.
Abu-Tartur Plateau is a major limestone highland in the central Western Desert, located roughly 400 miles southwest of Cairo between the Kharga and Dakhla oases.
It holds one of the region’s largest phosphate reserves, serving as a vital hub for Egypt’s mining and fertilizer industries.
The sharks lived during the Cretaceous period, between 145 and 66 million years ago, when the Earth was much hotter and more humid than it is today.
What is now Egypt was also a lush, tropical landscape, with portions of the country submerged beneath warm Tethys seawater that teemed with marine life.
Researchers recovered 14 fossilized teeth belonging to five now-extinct shark species, bringing the number known from the area to at least seven
By comparing the teeth with fossils found elsewhere in the world, the researchers led by Cairo University linked them to five extinct shark species: Cretalamna cf. maroccana, Scapanorhynchus cf. raphiodon, Serratolamna cf. serrata, Squalicorax bassanii and Squalicorax pristodontus.
None had previously been recorded at Abu-Tartur, while two, Serratolamna cf. serrata and Squalicorax bassanii, had never before been documented in Egypt.
But one discovery was particularly remarkable.
Scapanorhynchus cf. raphiodon, distinguished by its long, needle-like teeth, may be the first example of the species ever found in Africa.
Researchers said it could also be the youngest known specimen in the fossil record, as every other example discovered so far is significantly older.
Together, the five species reveal far more than the simple presence of sharks.
Their differently shaped teeth suggest they hunted separate prey and occupied distinct roles within a rich and complex marine ecosystem, rather than competing for the same food.
The team suggested that finding all seven species in the same phosphate-rich layer means their remains accumulated in a warm tropical or subtropical sea.
The area was probably located along the outer continental shelf and the upper part of the slope leading into deeper water.
The sea also appeared to have been affected by active upwelling, a process in which currents carry cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths toward the surface.
Those nutrients would have fueled the rapid growth of plankton and other tiny organisms, supporting a large and varied marine food web, according to researchers.
