Shorouq Al-Ashqar, the lead study author, with the Bastetodon syrtos skull and a Bastet statue. Credit: Professor Hesham Sallam Once upon a time, some 30 million years ago, what is now Egypt’s Western ...

The research team - also known as Sallam Lab - named the new species Bastetodon, after the ancient Egyptian cat-headed goddess Bastet, and "-odon" meaning "tooth". Image caption, Shorouq Al-Ashqar ...