Ancient ‘Sphinx crocodile’ reveals surprising local connection

Malaysia’s false gharial is a living link to the same ancient crocodilian lineage that includes the newly identified ‘Sphinx crocodile’ from Egypt. (Britannica pic) PETALING JAYA: The Great Sphinx has spent thousands of years staring out across the Egyptian desert, but it turns out the rocks around it have been keeping an even older secret.

Scientists recently identified a previously unknown crocodilian that lived about 45 million years ago, long before pyramids, pharaohs or even the Sphinx itself entered the picture.

Named "Herugavialis cairensis", the long-snouted reptile is said to have come from the same geological formation used to carve the famous monument.

There is even a slightly mischievous coincidence: the fossil skull is missing the tip of its snout, much like the Sphinx is famously missing its nose.

According to University College London , that resemblance helped inspire the creature’s name: “Heru” is another name for the ancient Egyptian god Horus, who researchers say may have been among the inspirations for the Sphinx.

The fossil itself is not a recent discovery. Its skull was first described in 1927 and is now housed at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, where it had long been considered part of a previously known crocodilian group.

A fresh examination of the specimen revealed enough differences in the skull and jaw to justify naming an entirely new genus and species.

"Herugavialis cairensis" belonged to the gavial lineage, a group of crocodilian relatives known for their long, narrow snouts, which are particularly well suited to catching fish.

Today, only two living species from this lineage remain: the Indian gharial, "Gavialis gangeticus", and the false gharial, "Tomistoma schlegelii" - also known as the Malayan gharial.

According to Malaysia’s biodiversity database, the Malayan gharial occurs in parts of peninsular Malaysia as well as Sarawak, where it inhabits freshwater rivers and peat-swamp environments.

An artist's impression of the newly identified crocodile species. (University College London / Adel Lee pic) Recent research on Malaysian populations has also recorded the species in Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Terengganu. Like its ancient relatives, the false gharial has a long, slender snout and feeds largely on fish.

The newly identified Egyptian species is not, however, a direct ancestor of Malaysia’s false gharial. According to researchers, it represents another branch in the evolutionary history of a group that was once far more widespread than it is today.

Fossil evidence shows that gavials lived across Europe, Africa and the Americas for tens of millions of years. Some ancient species even occupied shallow marine environments, unlike the freshwater habitats more closely associated with their surviving relatives today.

Researchers say crocodilian diversity in the Mediterranean region eventually declined as climate and sea levels changed. Around six million years ago, the Mediterranean became cut off from the Atlantic and partially dried out, reshaping habitats across the region.

Today, gavials survive only in parts of South and Southeast Asia.

So, while "Herugavialis cairensis" belongs to a world of ancient seas and prehistoric Egypt, one branch of that remarkable family still lives much closer to home - in Malaysia’s rivers and peat swamps.