The shoebill, also known as the whalebill, whale-headed stork, and shoe-billed stork, is a large long-legged wading bird. It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill. It has a somewhat stork-like overall form and has previously been classified with the storks in the order Ciconiiformes based on this morphology. However, genetic evidence places it with pelicans and herons in the Pelecaniformes. The adult is mainly grey while the juveniles are more brown. It lives in tropical East Africa in large swamps from South Sudan to Zambia.
Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 41 genera and 57 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus Peltocephalus, with two species, only one of which is extant ; and the genus Podocnemis, with six living species of South American side-necked river turtles and four extinct. There is also one genus native to Madagascar: Erymnochelys, the Madagascan big-headed turtle, whose single species E. madagascariensis.
Parachanna is a genus of snakeheads native to freshwater habitats in tropical Africa. Three recognized extant (living) species are in this genus, but a phylogenetic study from 2017 indicates that a fourth, currently undescribed species also exists.
Palmoxylon is an extinct genus of palm named from petrified wood found around the world.
Aegyptopithecus is an early fossil catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids (apes) and cercopithecids. It is known from a single species, Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, which lived around 38-29.5 million years ago in the early part of the Oligocene epoch. It likely resembled modern-day New World monkeys, and was about the same size as a modern howler monkey, which is about 56 to 92 cm long. Aegyptopithecus fossils have been found in the Jebel Qatrani Formation of modern-day Egypt. Aegyptopithecus is believed to be a stem-catarrhine, a crucial link between Eocene and Miocene fossils.
A sea eagle or fish eagle is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described with this label.
Arsinoitherium is an extinct genus of paenungulate mammals belonging to the extinct order Embrithopoda. It is related to elephants, sirenians, and hyraxes. Arsinoitheres were superficially rhinoceros-like herbivores that lived during the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene of North Africa from 36 to 30 million years ago, in areas of tropical rainforest and at the margin of mangrove swamps. A species described in 2004, A. giganteum, lived in Ethiopia about 27 million years ago.
The genus Apidium is that of at least three extinct primates living in the early Oligocene, from 30 to 28 million years ago. Apidium fossils are common in the Fayoum deposits of Egypt. Fossils of the earlier species, Apidium moustafai, are rare; fossils of the later species Apidium phiomense are fairly common.
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 Formation deposits around the Qasr el Sagha escarpment, north of the Birket Qarun lake near Faiyum in Egypt. The rocks its fossils occur in were deposited in the Priabonian, with the oldest dating back to about 36 million years ago (Ma) and the youngest not less than about 33 Ma.
Eogavialis is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph, usually regarded as a gavialoid crocodylian. It superficially resembles Tomistoma schlegelii, the extant false gharial, and consequently material from the genus was originally referred to Tomistoma. Indeed, it was not until 1982 that the name Eogavialis was constructed after it was realised that the specimens were from a more basal form.
Palaeoephippiorhynchus is an extinct genus of large stork from the Oligocene of Africa: its closest living relative is the saddle-billed stork.
The Jebel Qatrani Formation is a geologic formation located in the Faiyum Governorate of central Egypt. It is exposed between the Jebel Qatrani escarpment and the Qasr el Sagha escarpment, north of Birket Qarun lake near Faiyum. The formation conformably overlies the Qasr el Sagha Formation and is topped by the Widan el Faras Basalt. The age of the formation has been subject to debate, but the most recent research indicates that it covers both the latest parts of the Eocene and the Early Oligocene, spanning over the boundary between these two time periods.
Palaelodidae is a family of extinct birds in the group Phoenicopteriformes, which today is represented only by the flamingos. They were widespread during the Neogene, with fossil remains found on all continents other than Antarctica. The oldest remains referred to this group appeared in the fossil record during the Oligocene in Egypt and Belgium, before palaelodids reached their peak diversity during the Miocene. Following this the group declined in the early Pliocene before going extinct on most continents. However, remains found near Cooper Creek in the Lake Eyre Basin indicate that palaelodids managed to survive in Australia until the Pleistocene. Currently three genera are recognized by scientists: Adelalopus, Palaelodus and Megapaloelodus. Most fossil remains stem from Europe and have been assigned to the type species, Palaelodus ambiguus. Due to the fragmentary nature of most of these species, little is known about their ecology. They appear to have preferred brackish lakes and lagoons. Palaelodus has previously been thought to be a wader or diver, but recent research indicates that they were better suited for swimming and possibly fed on insect larvae and other aquatic invertebrates. At least Megapaloelodus appears to have adaptations for "locking" their legs in a standing position.
Saadanius is a genus of fossil primates dating to the Oligocene that is closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes, collectively known as catarrhines. It is represented by a single species, Saadanius hijazensis, which is known only from a single partial skull tentatively dated between 29 and 28 million years ago. It was discovered in 2009 in western Saudi Arabia near Mecca and was first described in 2010 after comparison with both living and fossil catarrhines.
Plesiopithecus is an extinct genus of early strepsirrhine primate from the late Eocene.
Ptolemaia is a genus of extinct Afrotherian mammals from the Oligocene of East Africa. The genus and type species, P. lyonsi, was described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1908 from the Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypts' Fayum Depression. The genus name alludes to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Greece which ruled over the Egyptian region where Ptolemaia was discovered, while the specific epithet lyonsi honors H. G. Lyons, then director of the Egyptian Geological Survey. A second species, P. grangeri, was described in 1987, and named after the early 20th century paleontologist Walter W. Granger. Fossils of P. grangeri are also known from Kenya.
Widanelfarasia is an extinct genus of placental mammals known from the Late Eocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt. Two species are known: W. bowni and the smaller W. rasmusseni. Described in 2000 by E. R. Seiffert and Elwyn L. Simons, Widanelfarasia was initially classified as uncertain position within placentals, but was later placed within the afrosoricidan suborder Tenrecomorpha. The genus name derives from Widan el-Faras, two prominent hills in the area where the fossils were recovered.
Xenerodiops is a genus of extinct birds, containing one species, Xenerodiops mycter. Its fossil remains were found in Egypt by Elwyn L. Simons and first formally described in 1987. It lived in the Oligocene. It has been placed in its own family, Xenerodiopidae; the alternative view is that this family is synonymous with Ardeidae, the herons.
Falcatodon is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts of the subfamily Hyainailourinae, from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) of the Faiyum Oasis depression in Egypt.
Hesham Sallam is an Egyptian paleontologist and the founder of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP-C), the first vertebrate paleontology program in the Middle East. He works as an associate professor at the American University in Cairo and Mansoura University. Sallam led the discovery and description of Mansourasaurus shahinae, a species of sauropod dinosaur from Egypt, which has improved understanding of the prehistory of Africa during the latest Cretaceous period. His work has helped popularize paleontology in Egypt.
