Whales in the desert. Eastern Sahara (12 photos) Bashny.Net

Eastern Sahara, were once the ocean floor, keeps the secret of one of the most amazing transformations in the history of the animal world. Thirty-seven million years ago, a 15-meter flexible beast with a huge mouth and sharp teeth died and sank to the bottom of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Now in the wilderness are huge skeletons of whales.




Imagine that instead of the desert - the sea, where whales swim and dive



Jaws whale look out from a cliff in the desert of Wadi Al-Hitan, where the Giza Pyramids less than 160 kilometers. "In the Egyptian tale mentioned sea serpent - says paleontologist Philip Gingerich. - Perhaps it inspired the writers of the remnants of these animals. "



"The fossils of whales - one of the wonders of God", - says Sameh Mohammad (Chief superintendent Wadi Al-Hitan), clearing with Iyad Zalmutom dorudon skeleton. Thanks to these findings Wadi Al-Hitan is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.



Skeleton basilosaurus (15 meters)
Team William Sanders spent a year trying to make the whole cast of the skeleton basilosaurus whose edges are located in the foreground of this picture, and bells - in the background. Castings are painted to resemble the color of the fossils.



Using computed tomography bone basilosaurus will create a digital model of a whale, swimming and hunting for many, many years ago



Egypt is not the only country where you can find traces of the first whales. This mayatset (Maiacetus,), whose name in Greek means "mother whale," because the skeleton inside the female fetus was discovered skeletons comes from Pakistan. The mother, whose 47 million years old, were strong webbed feet, and her body, she dragged on land - in the manner of a sea lion. The same legs she rowed in the water, using its tail as a rudder. Later whales swimming style changed: the role of the main mover has moved to the tail; hind limbs decreased, and the front turned into fins.



It processes on the vertebrae basilosaurus - they have served for attachment of muscles, raise and lower the tail of a whale swimming



This skeleton basilosaurus age 37 million years !!! It was found in Wadi al-Hitane because snout fossilized whale stuck on a hillside, and the tail - on the opposite



Nummulitovye basin
Shining like a beach at low tide, but as dry as the Sahara. It got its name like a coin extinct shell amoebas. Such fossils are the most important indicators of habitat of ancient whales.





Even the hills shaped like whales