Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

Wadi Al-Hitan, the whale valley in the western desert of Egypt, contains priceless fossilised remains of the earliest, and now extinct, suborder of whales, the Archaeoceti. These fossils represent one of evolution's most important stories: the whale's emergence as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal. This is the most important place in the world to demonstrate this stage of evolution. It provides a vivid picture of the shape and life of whales during this transitional phase. The number, concentration and quality of fossils here is unique, as is its accessibility and location in an attractive and protected landscape. The fossils in Al-Hitan show the youngest archaeocetes, which are in the final stages of losing their hind limbs. Other fossil material in the area makes it possible to reconstruct the environmental and ecological conditions of the time.

is51102023

2007:12:13 16:08:16

Ting Liu

Site

1165

09/05/2024

cm x cm x cm

current,29.196021338737783,30.106208324432377;

Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

TEXT

Archaeological

public

1

tl204@st-andrews.ac.uk