Skull of Ancient, Extinct Apex Predator With Teeth Like Cat and Body of a Dog Found in Egypt Awes Experts

An international team of experts and paleontologists discovered a nearly intact skull of a previously identified species. This discovery could bring the experts a step closer to figuring out the evolution of the ancient apex predators, according to a study that was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The extinct species had the sharp dental structure of a cat but a body that closely resembles modern-day dogs. 

These ancient carnivores were called hyaenodonts and they used to be on the top of an ancient food chain that was wiped out almost 25 million years ago. Experts have continued making efforts to understand how or why this species of predators went extinct. The skull was extracted from the Faiyum Depression of Western Egypt and it is the most complete hyaenodonta skull from the subfamily of Hyainailourinae that was previously found in Africa. The skeletal remains date back to the early Oligocene Epoch that started about 30 million years ago. 

The study's lead author, Shoqouq Al Ashqar, discussed the amazing archaeological discovery in 2020, revealing that she and her team exclaimed when they first unearthed the skull. Ashqar, a doctoral student at Mansoura University's Vertebrate Paleontology Center and a research assistant at American University in Cairo, recalled the amazing moment to CNN. "This skull is important to us, not only because it’s complete and three dimensional, and actually it’s a beautiful one but also because it provides us with new traits to know more about this extinct group of carnivorous animals," she mentioned. The researchers named the previously undiscovered species Bastetodon Syrtos after the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet who had a cat's head.

"Combined with sharp, knifelike teeth, the snout would have given the creature an extremely powerful bite," Ashqar explained. “We can frankly say that Bastetodon was the king of the ancient Egyptian forest." Researchers also revealed in the study that the fossil was a glimpse into the past when significant environmental changes took place, that led to the extinction of several species and even the birth of new ones. Previously, the hyaenodonta fossils were discovered across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. A few fossils were as big as rhinos and others were small like weasels.

In ancient times, the Faiyum Depression used to be a tropical rainforest where the Bastetodon thrived and preyed on an ancient relative of humans called Aegyptopithecus along with elephants and rhinos. "I think of them as like really beefy wolverines or basically like pit bulls. They have really big heads that were just covered in muscle," study co-author Dr. Matthew Borths, curator of fossils at the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, said according to CNN. Anthropology professor and director of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Nancy Stevens, told CNN over an email that the Bastetodon not only had well-preserved "robust teeth but also delicate aspects of cranial anatomy."

The hyaenodonta became extinct during the late Oligocene era due to various factors like climate change and the availability of prey. "The fact that they lost out to cats and dogs in their evolution is still a mystery but might be caused by their highly specialized dentition," Dr. Cathrin Pfaff, a postdoctoral researcher, and lecturer at the Institute of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna, explained to CNN over an email. "Because of this, such a complete find as described here brings us a step closer to solving the mystery, even if it is just a medium-sized specimen."