Rosa Rubicondior: How Science Work - (And Why Creationism Fails) - Changing Our Minds When the Evidence Changes

A New Global Discovery by Mansoura University's Vertebrate Paleontology Center - Mansoura University, Egypt

When scientists from Mansoura University, Egypt, recently announced in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London the discovery of an 80-million-year-old marine crocodyliform unearthed in Egypt’s Western Desert, the headlines hailed it as “the earliest known member of Dyrosauridae”, a forgotten branch of ancient crocodile-relatives adapted for coastal and marine life.

Found in mid-Campanian deposits of the Quseir Formation, Wadisuchus kassabi is represented by partial skulls and jaws from several individuals — enough to show that by this stage dyrosaurids already possessed the long, narrow snout and needle-sharp teeth suited for grabbing fish or turtles. What makes this find so important is not merely the age — though pushing the dyrosaurid fossil record back by several million years is notable — but the evolutionary implications and what it tells us about the scientific method. The cranial anatomy of Wadisuchus exhibits a transitional mixture of primitive and derived features: reduced premaxillary alveoli, modified jaw-occlusion patterns, and dorsally positioned nostrils for surface-breathing, reflecting a transitional form on the path from earlier crocodyliforms toward specialised marine dyrosaurids. Phylogenetic analyses consistently recover Wadisuchus as the basal (earliest-diverging) dyrosaurid — pushing the origin and early diversification of the family deeper into the Cretaceous.

This discovery underscores a fundamental truth of modern science: claims are not fixed dogma, but provisional explanations always subject to revision in the light of new evidence. Just as Wadisuchus reshapes our view of when and where dyrosaurids emerged, other fossil finds have repeatedly nudged back the origins of major vertebrate lineages, re-drawn phylogenetic trees, or revealed unexpected ancestral forms. In this way the scientific method resembles nothing so much as a continual conversation with Nature — a conversation always open to challenge, refinement, or outright contradiction when the data demand it.

Unlike creationists, whom recent research has shown, believe not changing their mind is a sign of strength of character and commitment to their 'faith', scientists know that the real test of character is a willingness to accept the evidence and the humility to allow it to dictate opinion.

Incidentally, it might come as a shock to creationists that a marine fossil was found in the Sahara Desert and that Earth was not created as it just a few thousand years ago, but has changed significantly over the millions of years, including periods of 'green Sahara'. As someone who has flown in a small plane over the Egyptian desert, I can attest to the existence of dry riverbeds and feeder streams in that desert, even though today rain is almost unknown in the vicinity of Luxor.

The Evolution of the Crocodylomorpha. Origins – Late Triassic (~235–230 Mya)
Crocodylomorphs arose during the Late Triassic as part of the pseudosuchian branch of Archosauria — the same wider group that also gave rise to dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Early crocodylomorphs were small, lightly built, long-legged animals, more like agile terrestrial runners than modern crocodiles. Key early forms include Sphenosuchus and Hesperosuchus.

Jurassic Diversification (~200–145 Mya)
During the Jurassic, crocodylomorphs underwent a major radiation. Several groups adopted highly specialised lifestyles, including:

Thalattosuchia - fully marine, with paddle-like limbs and streamlined bodies.
Notosuchians - often terrestrial, with diverse skull shapes and in some cases herbivorous diets.
Early neosuchians - the lineage that eventually leads to modern crocodilians.

Cretaceous Expansion (~145–66 Mya)
The Cretaceous period saw crocodylomorphs occupy an extraordinary range of niches. These included armoured herbivores, cursorial omnivores, and long-snouted fish-eaters. Neosuchians diversified further, giving rise to:

Goniopholidids - semi-aquatic, crocodile-like insects and fish hunters.
Dyrosauridae - long-snouted coastal and marine specialists, now pushed back to ~80 Ma by Wadisuchus kassabi.
The earliest true crocodilians (Crocodylia) appear by the Late Cretaceous.

Survival Through the End-Cretaceous Extinction (~66 Mya)
While most crocodylomorph groups died out at the K–Pg boundary, several dyrosaurids and early crocodilians survived. Their semi-aquatic habits and generalist diets likely contributed to their resilience during the post-impact ecological collapse.

Cenozoic to Present (~66 Mya–Today)
After the extinction of the dinosaurs, crocodilians expanded into the ecological space left behind. Three surviving lineages remain today:

Crocodylidae (crocodiles)
Alligatoridae (alligators & caimans)
Gavialidae (gharials)

Despite their ancient origins, modern crocodilians represent only the last surviving twigs of a once far more diverse and experimentally evolutionary tree.

Key Takeaway
Crocodylomorpha were never a single, static “kind”. They were a dynamic, diverse lineage whose evolutionary history includes terrestrial runners, armoured herbivores, and fully marine predators. Modern crocodiles are simply the latest survivors of this long, deep, and branching evolutionary story.

The Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Department (MUVP) team's work is explained in a press release through EurekAlert!

Earliest long-snouted fossil crocodile from Egypt reveals the African origins of seagoing crocs
New fossil species, Wadisuchus kassabi, from the Campanian (80 million years ago) pushes back the evolutionary timeline of Dyrosauridae and highlights Egypt’s Western Desert as a cradle of marine croc evolution.
In the Egyptian Western Desert, where red sandstones and green shales rise above the arid plains of Kharga Oasis, paleontologists have uncovered a fossil that fundamentally reshapes our understanding of crocodile evolution.

The new discovery, published in The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, was led by a team of Egyptian paleontologists. The newly described species, Wadisuchus kassabi, lived about 80 million years ago and is now recognized as the earliest known member of Dyrosauridae—a group of ancient crocodiles that differed markedly from their modern relatives.

Unlike today’s crocodiles, dyrosaurids thrived in coastal and marine environments, equipped with elongated snouts and slender, needle-sharp teeth ideal for seizing slippery prey such as fish and turtles. Their remarkable survival and dispersal after the extinction of the dinosaurs make them crucial for understanding how reptiles adapted and diversified when global ecosystems collapsed.

The name Wadisuchus kassabi blends Egypt’s landscape and legacy—Wadi (“وادي,” Arabic for “valley”) for the New Valley, where it was discovered, and Suchus for the ancient crocodile god Sobek. The species also honors Professor Ahmed Kassab (Assiut University), whose work in Egyptian paleontology continues to inspire new generations.

The fossils of Wadisuchus kassabi were excavated near Kharga and Baris oases in Egypt’s Western Desert. They include two partial skulls and two snout tips representing four individuals at different stages of growth, providing rare insight into how dyrosaurids developed. High-resolution CT scans and 3D surface models enabled us to reveal unprecedented anatomical details.

Professor Hesham M. Sallam, senior author.
Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Department (MUVP) Mansoura, Egypt.

Wadisuchus kassabi, was a 3.5–4-meter-long crocodile-like reptile with a very long snout and tall, sharp teeth. It differed from other dyrosaurids, in having four teeth at the front of the snout instead of the primitive five, nostrils positioned on top of the snout for surface breathing, and a deep notch at the tip of the snout where the jaws met. These features show a gradual adaptation in the dyrosaurid bite, marking an important step in their evolutionary history. Beyond the distinctive features of Wadisuchus, it plays a crucial role in understanding the origin of the dyrosaurid group. The new species pushes back evidence for an African origin of Dyrosauridae and suggests that their diversification began earlier than previously thought—possibly during the Early Coniacian–Santonian (about 87–83 million years ago), rather than the traditionally assumed Maastrichtian (about 72–66 million years ago).

Sara Saber, lead author
Department of Geology
Faculty of Science
Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

This discovery indicates that Africa was the cradle of dyrosaurid evolution, from which later lineages spread across the globe and our phylogenetic analyses consistently place Wadisuchus an ancestor of the dyrosaurid group. The significance of Wadisuchus lies not only in what it reveals about the evolutionary history of this remarkable group of crocodiles—though that is a major achievement—but also in what it reminds us of: Egypt’s Western Desert still holds treasures that preserve the secrets of our planet’s deep past. Our mission is not only to uncover these fossils but also to protect the fossil-rich sites from urban expansion and agricultural encroachment. They are a legacy for generations of Egyptians to come.

Belal S. Salem, co-author.
Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Department (MUVP) Mansoura, Egypt.

Publication:
Sara Saber, Belal S Salem, Khaled Ouda, Abdullah S Gohar, Sanaa El-Sayed, Patrick M O’Connor, Hesham M Sallam
An early dyrosaurid (Wadisuchus kassabi gen. et sp. nov.) from the Campanian of Egypt sheds light on the origin and biogeography of Dyrosauridae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 205(2), 2025, zlaf134, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf134

Abstract
Dyrosauridae are a clade of crocodyliforms characterized by diverse cranial morphologies and a broad palaeogeographic distribution from the Late Cretaceous to the Palaeogene. However, their early evolutionary history remains poorly understood due to a significant fossil gap during the Campanian. Here, we describe Wadisuchus kassabi gen. et sp. nov., an early-diverging dyrosaurid from the middle Campanian Quseir Formation of Egypt, based on two partial skulls and three partial mandibles. This new taxon displays transitional cranial features—including reduced premaxillary alveoli, modified occlusion patterns, and dorsally positioned external nares—that clarify aspects of cranial evolution related to longirostry in early dyrosaurids. Phylogenetic analyses consistently recover Wadisuchus as the earliest-diverging dyrosaurid, closely related to Chenanisuchus and distinct from Elosuchus, supporting a transition from dyrosauroids to dyrosaurids. Its Campanian age extends the temporal range of the clade and suggests that transatlantic dispersal from Africa to South America occurred earlier than previously recognized. Alongside Brachiosuchus kababishensis from Sudan, the new Egyptian taxon also implies that reverse dispersal into Africa preceded the Maastrichtian. Wadisuchus provides critical insights into the early diversification, palaeobiogeography, and cranial evolution of Dyrosauridae, confirming longirostry as an early-acquired trait and highlighting North Africa as a key region in their origin.

Sara Saber, Belal S Salem, Khaled Ouda, Abdullah S Gohar, Sanaa El-Sayed, Patrick M O’Connor, Hesham M Sallam
An early dyrosaurid (Wadisuchus kassabi gen. et sp. nov.) from the Campanian of Egypt sheds light on the origin and biogeography of Dyrosauridae
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 205(2), 2025, zlaf134, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf134

© 2025 the authors, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Linnean Society of London.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The discovery of Wadisuchus kassabi is more than a new name on the crocodylomorph family tree. It is another reminder that our picture of the past is always provisional, always open to refinement as new evidence emerges from the rocks. Only a decade ago, dyrosaurids were widely thought to be creatures of the very latest Cretaceous. Now, a few weathered skull fragments from the Quseir Formation have pushed their story back several million years and subtly redrawn their evolutionary timeline. Nothing about this shift is seen as a crisis for palaeontology; on the contrary, it is welcomed as progress — the natural outcome of a discipline whose strength lies in its willingness to revise earlier conclusions when the data change.

This is precisely where scientific thinking diverges so sharply from creationism. Science expects correction. It is built on the assumption that our current explanations are incomplete and that future discoveries will challenge them. Creationism, by contrast, begins with a fixed conclusion and must work backwards to protect it, even when the evidence points elsewhere. Where scientists adjust hypotheses to accommodate new fossils, creationists adjust narratives to avoid them. The discovery of Wadisuchus fits seamlessly into evolutionary biology, yet it becomes an awkward anomaly for any worldview that insists all species were created in their present form or within a narrow historical window.

The geology of the find is just as telling. The remains of this long-snouted marine predator come from what is now the hyper-arid Western Desert of Egypt — a landscape that has seen virtually no rainfall for millennia. Yet 80 million years ago it supported a thriving coastal ecosystem, complete with mangrove-lined bays and rich marine food webs. That such a place could transform so profoundly over deep time is itself a testament to the dynamism of Earth’s history. It also serves as a quiet rebuke to creationist claims of a static world: deserts become seas, seas become deserts, continents drift, climates flip, and life evolves in response. In the end, Wadisuchus kassabi offers more than a new chapter in crocodile evolution. It encapsulates the very process by which science advances — evidence replacing assumption, revision replacing dogma — and it reminds us that the world we see today is only a snapshot in an ever-shifting story written in stone.

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