Earliest long-snouted fossil crocodile from Egypt reveals the African origins of seagoing crocs
In the Egyptian Western Desert, where red sandstones and green shales rise above the arid plains of Kharga Oasis, paleontologists have uncovered a fossil that fundamentally reshapes our understanding of crocodile evolution.
The new discovery, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, was led by a team of Egyptian paleontologists. The newly described species, Wadisuchus kassabi, lived about 80 million years ago and is now recognized as the earliest known member of Dyrosauridae—a group of ancient crocodiles that differed markedly from their modern relatives.
Unlike today's crocodiles, dyrosaurids thrived in coastal and marine environments, equipped with elongated snouts and slender, needle-sharp teeth ideal for seizing slippery prey such as fish and turtles. Their remarkable survival and dispersal after the extinction of the dinosaurs make them crucial for understanding how reptiles adapted and diversified when global ecosystems collapsed.
The name Wadisuchus kassabi blends Egypt's landscape and legacy—Wadi ("وادي," Arabic for "valley") for the New Valley, where it was discovered, and Suchus for the ancient crocodile god Sobek. The species also honors Professor Ahmed Kassab (Assiut University), whose work in Egyptian paleontology continues to inspire new generations.