Fossil of 41m-year-old miniature whale discovered by Mansoura University researchers

President of Mansoura University Sherif Khater announced that a team of the university researchers unearthed a fossil of a pint-size whale that lived around 41m years ago, in a new scientific achievement in the field of palaeology.

In a statement, Mansoura University said the researchers unearthed the fossils near Wadi al-Hitan in Egypt, a site where many fossils of ancient whales can be found. At first, they said, it was unclear what they had found.

Prof. Hesham Sallam, founder of the Mansoura University vertebrate palaeontology center (MUVP), said the team initially found a single exposed tooth in a block of limestone that dated back to the Eocene, a period that lasted from about 55.8m to 33.9m years ago.