The Jebel Qatrani Formation (also Gebel Qatrani) is a

palaeontological Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

located in the

Faiyum Governorate Faiyum Governorate ( ar, محافظة الفيوم ) is one of the governorates of Egypt in the middle of the country. Its capital is the city of Faiyum, located about 81 mi (130 km) south west of Cairo. It has a population of 3,848,70 ...

of central

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Conformably overlying the

Qasr el Sagha Formation The Qasr el Sagha Formation is a geological formation located in Egypt. The formation is part of the Wadi El Hitan World Heritage Site. The Qasr el Sagha Formation overlies the Birket Qarun Formation and is overlain by the Gebel Qatrani Formation ...

. It is exposed namely between the Jebel Qatrani escarpment and the Qasr el Sagha

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

, north of Birket Qarun lake near

Faiyum Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...

Geology

These rocks were laid down in the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

- Oligocene period ( Priabonian -

Rupelian The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/ Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian ...

). This formation was originally thought to be between 35.4 and 33.3 million years old, based on initial analysis of the formation. However, analysis by Erik Seiffert in 2006 concluded that the age of the Jebel Qatrani Formation should be revised. His assessment of more recent evidence indicates an age for most of the formation of between 30.2 and 29.5 million years ago, placing it almost entirely in the

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/ Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian ...

. Seiffert states that only the lowest 48 metres was laid down in the

, but recent opinion holds the original hypothesis of a sediment straddling the Eocene-Oligocene boundary to be correct. Mostly

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

s deposited by meandering rivers and seasonal lakes, the lower (Eocene) part of the formation represents a woodlanded ecosystem of which much

petrified wood Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of '' fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ' ...

also remains. In contrast, the upper (Oligocene) layers present indication of much drier and cooler conditions, with

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

replacing the woodland for several million years before the climate turned wetter and warmer again and the forests regrew. The

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

changes also notably during this time, seemingly coincident with the

Eocene–Oligocene extinction event The Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, also called the Eocene-Oligocene transition or ''Grande Coupure'', is the transition between the end of the Eocene and the beginning of the Oligocene, an extinction event and faunal turnover occurring betwe ...

recorded in Eurasia.

Fossils

Mammals

* '' Arsinoitherium zitteli'', an arsinoitheriid * ''

Bothriogenys fraasi ''Bothriogenys'' was a genus of anthracotheres that lived in Eastern Africa during the late Eocene to early Oligocene. Most fossils have been found in Fayum, Egypt, but one species, ''B. orientalis'', is known from late Eocene deposits in Thail ...

'', an anthracotheriid * ''Herodotius pattersoni'', a pseudoungulate * '' Plesiopithecus'', an enigmatic lemur-like primate * Pliohyracidae, large hyraxes * Ptolemaiida, carnivorous

afrothere Afrotheria ( from Latin ''Afro-'' "of Africa" + ''theria'' "wild beast") is a clade of mammals, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in Africa or of African origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also know ...

mammals * '' Qatranilestes'' and '' Widanelfarasia'', relatives of

golden mole Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, family Talpidae, and other mole-like families, all ...

otter shrew Potamogalidae is the family of "otter shrews", a group of semiaquatic riverine afrotherian mammals indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. They are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar, from which they are thought to have split about 47� ...

s, and

tenrec A tenrec is any species of mammal within the afrotherian family Tenrecidae endemic to Madagascar. Tenrecs are wildly diverse; as a result of convergent evolution some resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums, rats, and mice. They occupy aquatic, a ...

s * Several hyaenodontids ('' Akhnatenavus cf. leptognathus,

Metapterodon ''Metapterodon'' ("next to '' Pterodon''") is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts of the tribe Metapterodontini withnin paraphyletic subfamily Hyainailourinae, that lived in Africa during the early Oligocene to early Miocene. Fossils ...

'') * Several

hystricognath The Hystricognathi are an infraorder of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skulls. The masseter medialis (a jaw muscle) passes partially through a hole below each eye socket (called the infraorbital foramen) ...

rodents (e.g. '' Acritophiomys bowni, A. woodi, Elwynomys lavocati, Gaudeamus hylaeus'') * A primitive

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

, maybe related to '' Peratherium'' * Primitive Old World monkeys (e.g. '' Aegyptopithecus zeuxis,

Biretia ''Biretia'' is an extinct genus of Old World monkey belonging to the extinct family Parapithecidae. Fossils are found from Late Eocene strata in Egypt. The first discovery of ''Biretia'' was a single tooth dated to approximately 37 mya, which w ...

fayumensis'' & ''B. megalopsis'')

Birds

* ''

Eremopezus ''Eremopezus'' is a prehistoric bird genus, possibly a palaeognath. It is known only from the fossil remains of a single species, the huge and presumably flightless ''Eremopezus eocaenus''. This was found in Upper Eocene Jebel Qatrani Formatio ...

'', an enigmatic large groundbird * ''

Goliathia ''Goliathia'' is an extinct genus of bird. The holotype is an ulna recovered from lower beds of the Jebel Qatrani Formation in Faiyum Governorate in Egypt. Initially thought to be a heron, an additional bone, a tarsometatarsus The tarsometatars ...

'', a large shoebill relative * '' Palaeoephippiorhynchus dietrichi'', a large stork * ''Xenerodiops'', an unusual heron * A cormorant-like bird, possibly related to genus ''Piscator'' * Several jacanas * One or two species of primitive

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

and another

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

(possibly an ancestral

sea eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...

) * A

turaco The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth ( ...

Other animals

* '' Albertwoodemys'', a side-necked turtle * '' "Crocodylus" megarhinus'', an ancestral crocodile * '' Eogavialis africanum'', a primitive gharial * '' Parachanna fayumensis'', a snakehead fish * ''Pterosphenus'', a

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

* African tetras (Alestidae) or similar

Characiformes Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationsh ...

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

, perhaps of genus ''Fajumia''

References