Mind-boggling remains of ancient 410lb whale found in middle of desert ’90 miles from Cairo’ – and even had ‘legs’

FOSSILS revealed a 41-million-year-old whale that had legs and are important pieces to understanding whale evolution.

The species of whale discovered has been named Tutcetus rayanensis and was found in the Fayoum Oasis, 90 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt.

Tutcetus is the smallest species so far found from the oldest known whales that lived exclusively in the water known as the basilosaurids.

It is estimated to weigh just 410 pounds.

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Team leader Hesham Sallam, of the American University in Cairo (AUC), said it was a "remarkable discovery that documents one of the first phases of the transition to a fully aquatic lifestyle," per Science Alert.

Basilosaurids "developed fish-like characteristics, such as a streamlined body, a strong tail, flippers, and a tail fin, and had the last hind limbs visible enough to be recognized as 'legs', which were not used for walking but possibly for mating," Sallam said in an AUC statement.

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Fayoum Oasis is one of the Eocene fossil sites of Egypt's Western Desert.

It has been said to be one of the world's most important when uncovering the evolution of whales.

Along with understanding whales’ full transition into aquatic animals.

Fayoum Oasis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has turned up hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whales known as the Valley of the Whales.

ANCIENT WHALES

The discovery comes on the heels of another recent ancient whale discovery which revealed a 750,000-pound sea creature in early August.

This whale was named  Perucetus colossus who lived roughly 38million years ago.

It was declared the heaviest animal ever to live due to each vertebra discovered weighing around 330 pounds.