Abdullah Gohar

A new protocetid whale offers clues to biogeography and feeding ecology in early cetacean evolution | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Over about 10 million years, the ancestors of whales transformed from herbivorous, deer-like, terrestrial mammals into carnivorous and fully aquatic cetaceans. Protocetids are Eocene whales that repre...

Read our paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Life restoration of Phiomicetus anubis, a walking whale, going after a sawfish.

The original skull, mandible, and skeleton of Phiomicetus anubis, a walking whale from the Eocene of Egypt.

Phiomicetus anubis turns 4 today! So proud of the little guy 🥹P. anubis is a 42-43 million year old "walking whale" from the Fayum desert of Egypt. #whaleontology 🧪🦖

Scientific figure showing the skull of the protocetid whale Protocetus atavus and the newly published endocranial cast; the endocast is shaped like a flattened Hershey's kiss, with a long olfactory tract and well-developed olfactory bulbs.

Life restoration of Protocetus atavus with the skull and endocast shown. Illustration by Tyler Stone.

#whalewednesday Endocranial anatomy of the OG protocetid whale, Protocetus atavus - protocetids had surprisingly large brains, indicating brain expansion occurred early in cetacean evolution; also retained well-developed olfactory bulbs (and smell). 🐬🧪🦖Read here: academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

Here is an amazing paloart by Tyler Stone

Gabriel S. Ferreira (he/his) (@gsferreira.bsky.social) 🇧🇷 in 🇩🇪, 🐢 virtual paleo, functional morph -researcher at Senckenberg HEP | sci. coordinator of 3D Imaging Lab of the Uni. Tübingen gabrielsferreira.com

It was for me a first opportunity to work with @muvp-eg.bsky.social , i.e., @hesham-sallam.bsky.social and @gohar.bsky.social , which was a blast! Thank you as well to @gsferreira.bsky.social and all other co-authors not on Bluesky.

…and the accompanying models on MorphoMuseuM here:
morphomuseum.com/articles/vie...

You can find the paper here: academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

patrick star from spongebob squarepants smells real good up hea ALT: patrick star from spongebob squarepants smells real good up hea

Regarding the sense of smell, we basically found that no part of the olfactory apparatus was significantly reduced, indicating that these amphibious cetaceans most likely had a good nose (likely much better than ours), and that the reduction of this sense most likely came later in their evolution.

Comparing the relative volume of the brain endocast, we found that this early whale was quite brainy, which is a surprise, as the first cetaceans with big brains were so far understood to be the fully aquatic basilosaurids.

a cartoon of homer simpson sniffing something with his mouth open ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson sniffing something with his mouth open

We addressed two aspects of cetacean evolution: their acquisition of a relatively big brain and the evolution of their sense of smell. As other mammals secondarily adapted to the aquatic environment, cetaceans have been assumed to reduce their sense of smell (which is air-born in this group).

We ct-scanned the skull of Protocetus atavus, an amphibious cetacean coming from the Mokattam Formation in Egypt. The inner anatomy of the skull was reconstructed, and we were able to reconstruct the brain imprint (endocast) as well as the different components of the nasal cavity.

Fossil brain 🧠🧟 of a 45-million-year-old cetacean! We are proud to publish‪ @journal-evo.bsky.social l the result of Elena Berger’s Bachelor’s thesis @smnstuttgart.bsky.social. Thread 👇
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Named after the cat-headed goddess Bastet, Bastetodon is symbolically linked to Sekhmetops, inspired by the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet. Mythology meets science in this incredible find! #SallamLab #MUVP

Our new discovery, led by @shorouqalashqar.bsky.social , has unveiled a new 30-million-year-old species of apex predator, #Bastetodon, in Egypt’s Fayum Desert! Check out the study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. @matt-borths.bsky.social @erikseiffert.bsky.social #SallamLab #MUVP

Thank you @gohar.bsky.social for a very nice invited talk on whale evolution for our group in Oslo yesterday!🐳🐋🐬

As usual, one of the best reconstructions of a protocetid early whale!

Oh groovy, our paper on the hindlimb biomechanics of the Triassic dinosauriform Lagosuchus is out! A quick thread for now. We uCT-scanned most of the existing skeletal material for this important outgroup to Dinosauria. We sorted through the elements and chose the best ones to make a 3D model from.

Dave traveled ✈️ to Egypt to interview Dr. Hesham Sallam, Egypt's first paleontologist and founder of the country's first Vertebrate Paleontology Center.

NEW! Episode #80: Walking 🦶 Egyptian Whales 🐋 from the Sahara with Dr. Hesham Sallam.

🔊 www.paleonerds.com/podcast/heshamsallam

You did a great job!

My initial sketches, transferring the anatomy of different modern animals onto the skull to see what felt plausible.

The reconstruction I settled on, taking cues from moose and camels along with my own previous drawings of other protocetids.

Some sketches exploring the reconstruction I’ve settled on. You know you love an animal when you’re willing to absolutely roast it.

Full painting of Makaracetus based on my earlier research and design work. This actually started as a screenshot of a swimming moose from Planet Zoo, which I warped and painted over in Procreate.

#FossilFriday with its bizarre skull, the protocetid whale Makaracetus has become my beloved nemesis. It’s extremely hard to reconstruct, but @gohar.bsky.social recently told me that my illustration of it is the most accurate he’s seen, so I must be on the right track. #paleoart #sciart #whale

An Ancient Whale Named for King Tut, but Moby-Dinky in Size Paleontologists in Egypt announced the discovery of Tutcetus rayanensis, an eight-foot-long leviathan that lived 41 million years ago.

I was searching for information about odontolite, which I did not find, but this fascinating article about early whales popped up instead. And now I need you all to learn about Tutcetus rayanensis and the Valley of the Whales. 🐳 (gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/s...

Holotype skull of Tutcetus rayanensis, taken from Antar et al 2023

Phylogenetic tree of cetaceans, including Tutcetus, taken from Antar et al 2023

Described only a week after the most massive basilosaurid, Tutcetus is not only one of the very smallest, with an estimated body length of only about 2.5m, but one of the earliest, coexisting with protocetes in the shallow coasts of Egypt during the early middle Eocene.

Vector illustration of Tutcetus rayanensis, a small basilosaurid from Eocene Egypt. Text reads: Tutcetus rayanensis. Mohammed Antar, Abdullah Gohar, Heba El-Desouky et al. Diminutive new basilosaurid whale reveals the trajectory of the cetacean life histories during the Eocene. Commun. Biol. 6(1):707 Aug 10 2023

Cenozoic Paleo 2023 day 21: Meet Tutcetus rayanensis!

#paleoart #paleontology #sciart

2023 in review: this year's advances in marine mammal paleontology! Here is my 11th annual [comprehensive] roundup of every peer-reviewed article that came out in our field this year. Check it out here: coastalpaleo.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023...

The small early whale Tutcetus.

T. rex sketch.

Van Meter Visitor as a monstrous “pterodactyl.”

Van Meter Visitor as a giant bat.

More work from 2023: Tutcetus on its own, a T. rex sketch, and two versions of the Van Meter Visitor.

Fig. 1: Tutcetus rayanensis (MUVP 501, holotype).

A diminutive new basilosaurid whale reveals the trajectory of the cetacean life histories during the Eocene; by Mohammed Antar, Abdullah Gohar, Heba El-Desouky, Erik Seiffert, Sanaa El-Sayed, Alexander Claxton, Hesham Sallam
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-04986-w

Life reconstruction of the extinct basilosaurid whale Tutcetus rayanensis swimming in the Tethys Ocean of present-day Egypt, 41 million years ago.

The fossil of the new species of basilosaurid and a corresponding drawing to explain the fossil

Important whale news! A new research paper reports a new species of basilosaurid. This whale is believed to be the smallest known basilosaurid and has been named Tutcetus rayanensis after the ancient Egyptian Pharoah, Tutankhamun. Paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-04986-w

Illustration by Ahmed Morsi and Hesham Sallam

Paleontologists Abdullah Gohar, Mohamed Sameh, and Hesham Sallam (from left)

Tutcetus rayanensis,

New genus and species of ancient basilosaurid whales just discovered!

It's 41 million years old and comes from Egypt!

#paleo #paleontology #science #whale #basilosaurid

@AFP: Egypt dig unearths whale that lived 41 million years ago when the species was just completing their move from land to sea.

The team has dubbed the species "Tutcetus rayanensis" after the Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun and the Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area

https://t.co/s88Z33TUtD

A visualisation of how the extinct basilosaurid whale, Tutcetus rayanensis, might have looked 41m years ago on a good joyful day. Mouth open. Smiling.

They really looked at the newly discovered mini whale and decided “I’m gonna render it as the happiest whale ever.”

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/10/fossil-of-41m-year-old-miniature-whale-discovered-in-egypt