34 million year old carnivore named after the Egyptian god of the Underworld | PLOS Paleo Community
Naming a new species is a wonderful thing to do. It’s a statement that you’ve discovered an entirely new organism to science, and naming it is a personal touch about how you perceive the importance of it. Last year, researchers named a 34 million year old canine-like fossil from Egypt, with an exquisitely preserved skull. It was named after the ancient Egyptian god of the Underworld, Anubis, often associated with the afterlife. Anubis attending to a mummy (Source: Wikipedia, public domain) From myth to reality Its full name is Masrasector nananubis, the species name actually meaning “little Anubis” from Greek νάνος (nannos) for little and Anubis (Ἄνουβις). How appropriate for this little dog-like fossil! The researchers who named it are Matthew Borths from Ohio University and Erik Seiffert from the University of Southern California. All specimens were collected over decades of excavation from a locality known as the Fayum Depression, 14.5 km west of Qasr el-Sagha Temple. Rocks the
Source: 34 million year old carnivore named after the Egyptian god of the Underworld | PLOS Paleo Community