Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 134, February 2016, pp. 1-44. | Page 5

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and sea turtles, and bones of sea snakes have also been recorded. There are many
species of bony fish, sharks and rays represented, but most of the fossils are
isolated small teeth and these are not often conspicuous. Larger fish fossils
include the rostra and pegs of sawfish; a sawfish rostrum of 1.8 metres long is
laid out in the park. Fossil shells are not common in the main whale-bearing
rocks, but are very common in other rocks; many fallen rocks can be seen to be
full of a wide variety of fossil shells. Disc-shaped nummulite fossils are common
in places, and often coat the desert floor. A large log is present in the park, and
this is full of tubular shipworm fossils. Some fossil seagrasses are also known
(Wikipedia).

Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa studying a Basilosaurus isis
Whale Fossil at Wadi El-Hitan (Whales Valley), Al-Fayyum, Al-Sahraa Al-Gharbiah
(Western Desert), Egypt. Photo: Ola Mostafa Khalaf. 11.07.2012.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15470456305/

Basilosaurus :
Basilosaurus ("king lizard") is a genus of early whale that lived 40 to 34 million
years ago in the Late Eocene. The first fossil of B. cetoides was discovered in the
United States and was initially believed to be some sort of reptile, hence the
suffix -"saurus", but it was later found to be a marine mammal. Richard Owen
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 134 – February 2016