四千万年前还是一片汪洋大海的地区如今是什么样子呢?答案是一片沙漠。很少有人能想到,如今黄沙遍野的上埃及地区曾充满海水,曾是鲸鱼的乐园。
& _; x6 `* E1 o l Its name in Arabic is Wadi Hitan but it is known as the Valley of the Whales.5 b1 s2 p/ V$ _$ I& q7 Z3 o5 ]# p0 [
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For years palaeontologists have been unearthing a remarkable collection of whale fossils, all the more surprising because the area is now inland desert in upper Egypt., M3 r# P8 P# \' N/ s( L" o. a
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It is believed that about 40 million years ago the area was submerged in water, part of the Tethys Sea. As the sea retreated north to the Mediterranean it left a series of unique rock formations and also a cornucopia of fossils.& f' G; S9 }, _# s, f' H7 R5 l( [
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One of the most exceptional finds was a 37 million-year-old whale from the species Basilosaurus isis, unearthed by a team led by Prof Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan in the United States.5 Z: I; d, i7 a( c9 d' w
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But now it has become the subject of a bizarre customs wrangle at Cairo airport.
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Prof Gingerich explained that this was the only complete specimen from this species of whale.
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It provides evidence of how whales evolved from being land-based creatures to go back into the sea - a reverse of the usual evolutionary process.
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Basilosaurus isis retained tiny feet, a useless reminder of its evolution from land animal to sea-dweller.! c! ^* ^/ _6 p( c1 ?5 o# A
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The limbs are human sized, even though the creature is 15m-16m long., R/ S) B5 D- Y
5 r+ S* B# v1 d: I1 ^- U$ ~ For the past two years Prof Gingerich and his team have been painstakingly reassembling the skeleton back in Michigan. It is now being returned to Egypt for a new museum, planned for the Valley of the Whales.
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2 h2 i3 a0 H6 A' V9 h: p But according to the Egyptian media the whale skeleton is stuck at Cairo airport.
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9 F, ?! u) U- w- H( } Customs agents are demanding a $40,000 fee.
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It is not clear how they came to that figure as prehistoric fossils have no agreed market value.
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% s+ G3 b' j1 ~2 k In any case the Egyptian authorities who are importing the fossil are refusing to pay.2 @- B9 a9 \: ~4 H5 u: `
, g& n0 o# c6 v9 J' M A senior official from the ministry of tourism has warned that the issue needs to be resolved speedily, otherwise it could cause a "big scandal" for Egypt, he said.3 w3 c& h. d4 D+ Q9 ?
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Prof Gingerich joked that it had taken two-and-a-half years to be allowed to export the fossil to the United States, and it could take another two-and-a-half years to get it back. |