The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Cairo is full of tons of different places to visit, but that doesn’t stop us from seeing the beauty in other areas in Egypt. Faiyum, for instance, is one of the most overlooked spots in Egypt. It hosts lots of amazing tourist attractions, natural sights, and historical relics. The latter is what we’re speaking about today. Most of us have already heard about the Valley of Whales, but this new discovery puts things on a whole other level.

The Valley of Whales is named so because it contains fossilised remains of whales, from a time when the area was a sea. The Independent recently reported on the discovered remains of an ancient whale, a hunter so large that it not only had fish remains in its stomach but also remains of other whales. This is a whale-eating whale we’re talking about.

Basilosaurus is its name, and the image of this monstrous creature will remind of you of The Meg movie. Its name means “king lizard”, and this species lived millions of years ago in the Eocene age. Palaeontologists discovered this 15-metre long relic in 2010. However, further studies revealed that there are many bones intertwined with the vertebrae of that creature. These included fish remains, as well as remains of another ancient whale, proving that King Lizard was not messing around. Bite marks on the bones further confirmed that this monstrous creature preyed on an ancient whale species known as Dorudon atrox. The bite marks were concentrated around the skull, so King Lizard did, in fact, deliver the lethal head shot to the Dorudon atrox whales.

Such studies prove that the Valley of Whales was indeed home to many huge whales that lived there millions of years ago. The Valley of Whales now holds a museum unlike anything you can see in the Middle East, showcasing these remains and what we’ve learned from them. You can learn more about the King Lizard and the discovery from the Independent article, as well as this video below.