The Qasr el Sagha Formation is a
geological formation located in
Egypt. The formation is part of the
Wadi El Hitan
( ar, وادي الحيتان, lit=Valley of the Whales ) is a paleontological site in the Faiyum Governorate of Egypt, some south-west of Cairo. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of some ...
World Heritage Site. The Qasr el Sagha Formation overlies the
Birket Qarun Formation and is overlain by the
Gebel Qatrani Formation
The Jebel Qatrani Formation (also Gebel Qatrani) is a palaeontological and geologic formation located in the Faiyum Governorate of central Egypt.
Conformably overlying the Qasr el Sagha Formation. It is exposed namely between the Jebel Qatra ...
. The
sandstones and
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
s of the formation were deposited in a
deltaic to shallow marine
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
.
[Gingerich et al., 2019] It dates to the
Late Eocene (middle
Priabonian
The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of t ...
, ).
Paleontological significance
Fossils of the
early whale genus ''
Saghacetus
''Saghacetus'' is an extinct genus of basilosaurid early whale, fossils of which have been found in the Upper Eocene (middle Priabonian, ) Qasr el Sagha Formation, Egypt (, paleocoordinates ).
In 1879, German botanist Georg August Schweinfurt ...
'' ("Sagha whale", originally named "''Zeuglodon osiris''") were first collected at Qasr al Sagha by German explorer
Georg August Schweinfurth in January 1886 (a well-preserved dentary).''Saghacetus'' is common in the middle of Qasr el Sagha, but there are few other specimens of archaeocetes whales; the only exception being the enigmatic "''Prozeuglodon stromeri''", named in 1828 based on specimens from 1904, but never adequately described before their destruction during the
bombing of Munich in
World War II.
Other fossils found in the formation include:
[Qasr el Sagha Formation]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s
Afrotheres
Ferae
Ungulates
Reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s
Squamates
Testudines
Fish
** ''
Misrichthys stromeri''
** ''
Carcharhinus aff. frequens''
** ''
Odontorhytis aff. pappenheimi''
** ''
?Jacquhermania attiai''
** ''
Carcharhinus sp.''
** ''
Coupatezia sp.''
** ''
Ouledia sp.''
** ''
Pastinachus sp.''
** ''
Rhinobatos sp.''
** ''
Scyliorhinus sp.''
** ''
?Sphyrna sp.''
**
Pristidae indet.
** ''
"Cretolamna" twiggsensis''
See also
*
List of fossil sites
References
Bibliography
*
* A. Pérez-García. 2019. New information and establishment of a new genus for the Egyptian Paleogene turtle ‘Stereogenys’ libyca (Podocnemididae, Erymnochelyinae). Historical Biology 31(3):383-392
* S. Adnet, H. Cappetta, S. Elnahas and A. Strougo. 2011. A new Priabonian Chondrichthyans assemblage from the Western desert, Egypt: Correlation with the Fayum oasis. Journal of African Earth Sciences 61:27-37
*
*
{{Refend
Geologic formations of Egypt
Eocene Series of Africa
Priabonian Stage
Sandstone formations
Mudstone formations
Deltaic deposits
Shallow marine deposits
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Africa
Paleontology in Egypt