There’s a new king in town — if the town you’re talking about is the Egyptian jungle 30 million years ago.
Paleontologists unearthed a nearly complete skull of an apex predator, which likely hunted early versions of primates, hippos, and elephants in what is now a desert. The skull included sharp teeth and signs of powerful jaw muscles. The scientists described it as having a hypercarniverous diet in recent study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
"It’s just gorgeous," says Matthew Borths, a curator at the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History and a co-author of the paper. "It’s the most complete cranium of an apex carnivore from this part of the Fayum. It’s not crushed. It’s just so pretty. I also immediately realized it had huge jaw muscles for a very powerful chomp."
The leopard-like animal skull was found in the Fayum Depression. Paleontologists digging in that area have so far unearthed fossils covering about 15 million years of mammalian evolution.
