Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 134, February 2016, pp. 1-44. | Page 3

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The first fossil skeletons of whales were discovered in the winter of 1902-3. For
the next 80 years they attracted relatively little interest, largely due to the
difficulty of reaching the area. In the 1980s interest in the site resumed as four
wheel drive vehicles became more readily available. Continuing interest
coincided with the site being visited by fossil collectors, and many bones were
removed, prompting calls for the site to be conserved. The remains display the
typical streamlined body form of modern whales, yet retaining some of the
primitive aspects of skull and tooth structure. The largest skeleton found reached
up to 21 m in length, with well-developed five-fingered flippers on the forelimbs
and the unexpected presence of hind legs, feet, and toes, not known previously
in any archaeoceti. Their form was serpentine and they were carnivorous. A few
of these skeletal remains are exposed but most are shallowly buried in
sediments, slowly uncovered by erosion. Wadi El-Hitan provides evidences of
millions of years of coastal marine life (Wikipedia).

Prof. Dr