WADI HITAN the River Nile.

After feeding rich agricultural

land, the water drains into Birkit Qarun, a
saltwater lake. There are two overflow lakes
in nearby Wadi Rayyan that have a unique
EARLY WHALE waterfall between them. The Fayum is noted
EVOLUTION for the production of cotton, cereals, figs,
grapes, olives and attar of roses.

John Parkins The Western Desert of Egypt is rich in varied

and often spectacular geology, (see Journal
In bony, ribby, regions of the earth, where at 28, autumn 2009). This is certainly true of the
the base of high broken cliffs masses of rock Fayum and if the geology of the area is
lie strewn in fantastical groupings upon the complex then the palaeontology is exceptional.
When standing in the midst of the Sahara
plain, you will often find images as of the today, with no sign of life for hundreds of miles
petrified remains of the leviathan. in any direction, it can be hard to realise how
Moby Dick rich and fertile the whole area has been for
Herman Melville much of the past. Just how recently it was so
is recorded by the people who lived here, as
shown in fig.2, rock art from Libya.
On the west bank of the River Nile, just over
one hundred kilometres south of Cairo, lies a
green and fertile area, the Fayum, (Al-
Fayoum, al Fayyum, etc.). See fig.1.

Figure 2: evidence of life in an earlier age

The area retains much fossil evidence of life

during the early Cainozoic. Of particular
importance are the Eocene and Oligocene
Figure 1: the Fayum, (Al-Fayoum, al periods which record the evolution of early
Fayyum, Tertiary plants and animals and, in particular,
the evolution of whales from land to fully
The name comes from the Coptic peiom, aquatic animals. During the early Eocene,
meaning lake. Often called an oasis, it is c.55Ma, Africa was much further south than at
situated in a depression as are the oases present with the Tethys Ocean between it and
deeper in the Western Desert but, unlike them, Europe. The oceans southern shore was
it does not rely for water on the aquifer held in aligned with present day Aswan. By the late
the Nubian Sandstone. During the Pharonic Eocene, c.35Ma, the shoreline had moved
era a canal, the Bahr Yusif, was dug along the north to the Fayum and by the late Oligocene,
line of a flood channel to connect the Fayum to c24Ma, it was aligned with present day Cairo.

Journal of the Bath Geological Society, No. 31, 2012 2

Thus the deposits of the Fayum area reflect to the southwest of the depression. It is also
the very different conditions prevailing there known as The Valley Of The Whales. Over
across that period. The key beds in the story an area of 10km more than four hundred fossil
of whale evolution are the Gehannam Fm., skeletons of early whales, sea cows,
dated ca 40-41Ma., and the Birket Qarun Fm.; crocodiles and turtles have been found. Other
both yield early whales. The main fossil fossil finds, animals and plants, have enabled
bearing stratum of the Upper Eocene is the a clear picture of the land and seascape
Qasr al-Sagha Fm. Consisting of layers of during the Upper Eocene to be understood.
limestone and shale it is of marine origin but This shallow coastal area consisted of
also contains the remains of many animals mangrove-fringed estuaries and lagoons
washed in from nearby land. Above this is the containing a rich flora and fauna. The top
Fluvio-Marine Fm. containing marine reptiles marine predator around 35/40Ma was
and early mammals. The latter includes Basilosaurus, an eighteen metre, sixty foot,
moeritherium, Dawn Elephant, and fully aquatic whale, fig.3.
arsinoitherium, a 3.4 metre, 11 foot long, two-
horned rhinoceros-like animal. Since the One of the two species present, Basilosaurus
fossils lie at different levels they give evidence
of response to climatic and ecological changes
over millions of years thus providing valuable
evolutionary indicators.

The above sequence was terminated during

the Late Oligocene when western runoff
following the initial uplift of the Red Sea
Mountains created a delta on the Tethys coast
in the area of the Fayum. These gravels
became the Gebel Qatrani Fm. Further
tension later spread a thick sheet of basalt
over this and is visible capping the Gebel
Qatrani Escarpment on the northwest of the
Fayum. During the Miocene the whole area
was subjected to uplift and a high energy river
cut the Nile canyon. It was in the Pliocene
infill of this that the present Nile cut its bed. As
noted in Journal 28, there is much debate,
involving water and wind erosion, as to how
Figure 3: Basilosaurus, an eighteen metre, sixty foot, fully
the depressions of the Western Desert were
aquatic whale found around 35/40Ma.
formed. In the case of the Fayum there is a
view that solution weathering of younger
Pliocene limestone above the weaker Gebel isis, reached twenty one metres, fig.4.
Qatrani conglomerates caused cavern roof It had an elongated form and carnivorous
collapse. Wind erosion would have acted on dentition. Basilosaurus was equipped with five
this to enlarge the depression. Stress -fingered flippers on the forelimbs but had
fractures from initial Africa/Europe contacts vestigial hind legs, feet and toes.
would have hastened this process.
Fig.5 compares the structure of these legs with
Fossils from the Fayum area cover a full that of modern baleen whales. In toothed
spectrum from trace to primates and make it whales the structure is even more reduced.
one of the most important sites in the world. Having no locomotive value, it has been
Of particular interest is what is revealed about suggested that the rear limbs acted as a
early whales for, along the southern shore of mating aid.
the Tethys during the Eocene, mammals in the
same clade can be traced from Early Eocene Study of the skeletal structure has led to the
land species to Late Eocene fully aquatic conclusion they swam with an angulliform, or
animals. Much of the evidence for this is to be eel-like, motion and that they were not capable
found in Wadi Hitan, an area 12km, 7.5 miles, of sustained swimming or deep diving. They

Journal of the Bath Geological Society, No. 31, 2012 3

 was proposed. Taxonomic
priority prevailed and Zeuglodon
went the same way as the much
lamented Brontsaurus, it
became a synonym. This
synonym, however, did better
than most, for some maps and
Figure 4: Basilosaurus isis reached 21 metres books still name the whale site
Wadi Zeuglodon. There are
nine species of Basilosauridae,
are not considered to have been social two of which are present at Wadi Hitan. Finds
animals. The high number of infant skeletons range from the United States to Pakistan,
suggests that this shallow nutrient-rich area indicating that the family was present along
was used for calving. The suffix saurus the length of the southern Tethys seaboard.
appears totally inappropriate for a mammal.
When the first specimen was named it was Sharing the sea with Basilosaurus were three
thought to be a marine reptile and called King other whale species. One of these, Durodon
Reptile. When later correctly indentified as a atrox, Spear tooth, was a sub family of the
mammal, the name Zeuglodon, yoked tooth Basilosauridae, fig.6. This archeaocete whale
measured five metres, 16ft, in length and was
once thought to be the juvenile form of
Basilosaurus. Body mass is estimated as
2,240kg. This whale is only known from North
Africa. It also had the vestigial hind legs.
Finds of associated fish bones indicate part of
its diet. D. atrox had a hearing system that
had some elements in common with modern
whales but different to primitive terrestrial
mammals; these elements aided the reception
of underwater sound. One other species of
Durodon is known. The large percentage of
juvenile remains suggests that this whale also
calved here. Some of the skulls show
unhealed bite marks of Basilosaurus. Was
this opportunistic snacking during shared
birthing space or something more organised
and periodic? Today predators gather at
predation choke points; bears at Canadian
salmon runs, crocodiles at African river
crossings, Orca at seal nurseries. Was this
the case here? This is, of course, pure
Figure 5: comparison of legs from Basilosaurus conjecture, but such conjecture changes these
with modern baleen whale. animals from dry bones in the desert to living

Figure 6: Durodon atrox, Spear tooth

Journal of the Bath Geological Society, No. 31, 2012 4

hunters in a rich biosphere. The BBC series remembering at this point that none of these
Walking with Beasts episode 2 reconstructs were species, these were stages towards
the Upper Eocene environment and follows something else. They were animals fully
the life cycle of an individual Basilosaurus adapted to their environment. The Eocene
which includes hunting Moeritherium and laid the foundations that would lead to many of
Durodon. our modern species and in doing so
demonstrated the adaptability of the
The Eocene of Pakistan provides two earlier evolutionary process; a process that can move
markers in the story of whale evolution that life from out of the sea onto land, from the land
reflect key stages in the process. From the into the air and from the land back into the sea
Early Eocene comes Pakicetus, fig7. The again. In his award winning update of
skull of this small quadruped has some Darwins Origin, Steve Jones, the
features in common with creodonts, wolf size evolutionary biologist, notes that modern
carnivores, but others that relate to the earliest whales have their history embedded in their
whales. With limited swimming ability its DNA and that today individuals are sometimes
lifestyle has been
suggested as that of a
carnivore which, due to
resource famine, took to
shore line scavenging and
shallow water ambush
hunting. Ambulocetus, the
walking, swimming whale,
comes from the Mid
Eocene, 40/41Ma, fig.8. It
was about the size of a
sea lion and was far more
adapted to the aquatic life Figure 7: Pakicetus
with hind limbs further
back along the body.
Powerful rear feet provided the main form of born with vestigial legs. The title of his book
propulsion. Various degrees of amphibious Almost like a Whale is on the front cover and
mobility have been postulated. A strong case above it is a photo, taken from below the
has been made for Ambulocetus being otter surface, of a polar bear swimming. Polar
like, although seal like has also been bears are a present day species that due to
suggested. With the Basilosauridae the resource famine, i.e. ice and/or seal, has
transition to a fully aquatic mode of life can be individuals showing adaptive behaviour,
swimming far greater distances
than in the past. We may not see if
this proves a successful survival
technique for evolution seldom
works in our timescale; the species
alternative, extinction, all too often
does.

The first fossils were found at Wadi

Hitan in 1902 and 1905 saw
Basilosaurus finally adapted as the
Figure 8: Ambulocetus, the walking, swimming whale, from the species name. Few people visited
Mid Eocene, 40/41Ma, this comparatively remote area as
the unique riches of the site were,
over time, revealed. In more
seen to have been made. It was in the later recent times the site suffered from the looting
Oligocene and Miocene that whales diversified of specimens but now Wadi Hitan is a Special
into the toothed and baleen types, although Protected Area within the Wadi Rayyan
not directly from this line. It is worth Protected Area and rangers patrol. Wadi

Journal of the Bath Geological Society, No. 31, 2012 5

Hitan is, since July 2005, a World Heritage
Site on par with our own Jurassic Coast. It is
Joggins Fossils Cliffs,
the one place in the world where the skeletons Nova Scotia, September
of these animals can be seen in situ and in
some cases still articulated. In addition to the 2012.
fossils, the desert scenery is spectacular. Day
excursions from Cairo are possible and well
worth a day away from the bazaars. Transport Open University Geological Society
may vary but experience of deep desert travel Field Trip led by Prof. Brian Williams
suggests a modern 4x4 with forward facing and Prof. Ken Higgs.
seats is worth paying for. The Fayum is an
under-visited area. The road south from Cairo
passes pyramid sites off the usual tourist
Mellissa Freeman
itinerary, including Abu Sir, Saqqara and
Joggins Fossil Cliffs at Chignecto Bay, Nova
Dashur, all three worthy of time and attention.
Scotia, is a UNESCO World heritage site
Two important pyramids, Hawara and Maidum,
situated on the eastern shores of the
as well as Lahun are in the Fayum. Other
Cumberland basin and forms the northern
archaeological sites include the Ptolemaic
extension of the Bay of Fundy. The highest
Temple of Qasr Qarun and the ruins of
tidal range in the world is experienced here,
Dionysias, a Ptolemaic-Roman town.
reaching 16.8 m twice a day. The cliffs
contain a comprehensive record of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Carboniferous coal-bearing strata with the
The following illustrations are reproduced most complete fossil record of Carboniferous
under the terms of the Wikimedia Commons terrestrial life in existence today; this includes
Licence. My thanks to the authors, listed the remains and tracks of very early animals
below, who allow their work to be used in this and the rainforest in which they lived. On
way. This does not imply that they in any way display is a 15 million year succession of
agree with the views of the author. sedimentary layers made up of ochreous
Fig.3, Pavel Riha sandstone (up to 30m high) forming the
Fig.4, Conty headlands. These are interbedded with thin
Figs.6,7 & 8, Nobu Tamura layers of coal and there is a wide intertidal
bedrock platform that runs into the sea. The
BIBLIOGRAPHY low-grade coal seams, of varying thickness,
Jones, S. Almost like a Whale. Anchor Books, exposed in the Joggins Formation, have been
(Transworld). 2000. exploited since the late 1600s by local and
ISBN 1862 300025 9 British settlers. Large scale industrialisation
Sampsell B. A Travellers Guide to the Geology came to the area in the late 1800s following
of Egypt. American University in the construction of the Joggins Railway. The
Cairo Press. ISBN 977 424 785 X mines were finally closed after a mining
Vivian C. The Western Desert of Egypt. disaster in 1958 and the area is now a popular
Chapter 7, The Fayum. American tourist destination.
University in Cairo Press. 2003.
ISBN 978 977 424 527 5

Joggins Cliffs looking north

Journal of the Bath Geological Society, No. 31, 2012 6