Aegyptocetus was first named by Giovanni Bianucci and Philip D. Gingerich in 2011 and the type species is Aegyptocetus tarfa. The generic name is derived from Aegyptus, Latin for Egypt, and cetus, Latin for whale. The specific name refers to Wadi Tarfa, the desert valley where the holotype was found.[1]
Description
Aegyptocetus had features in its cranium and dentaries adapted for hearing in water. Its thoracic vertebrae (T1–T8), however, had long neural spines which is a characteristic of the weight-bearing system of land-living mammals retained in protocetids, such as Rodhocetus and Qaisracetus, but absent in the more derived basilosaurids, such as Dorudon. This suggests that Aegyptocetus, like other protocetids, was able to support its body on land and probably was semi-aquatic.[3]
Bianucci, Giovanni; Gingerich, Philip D. (2011). "Aegyptocetus tarfa, n. gen. et sp. (Mammalia, Cetacea), from the middle Eocene of Egypt: clinorhynchy, olfaction, and hearing in a protocetid whale". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (6): 1173–1188. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.607985. S2CID85995809.