00:00You are finally here. The sky darde its dark rays and the wind you hold.
00:06Your mind can't stop thinking of the water and the ossements who gisent under your feet.
00:11You are across the Sahara, the most vast desert hot of the planet.
00:15In this moment, you traverse a sandstone called the Valley of the Baleines.
00:20On its 200 square kilometers, the soil is so densely consumed by fossils
00:24that it is impossible to not walk on it.
00:26The palaeontologist Hesham Salam describes this scene as typical of the region.
00:31The ossements emerge from the falaises, seem to almost invite you to examine them.
00:36The clouds are surrounded by the ground, and its gigantic vertebrates attire your gaze.
00:41Imagine the creatures to which they belong.
00:44They could reach up to 20 meters long.
00:47The fossils reveal a body profiled that reminds the of modern baleines,
00:51all of them keeping their ancestors, such as the feet and feet.
00:55For scientists, this could indicate the discovery of a complete skeleton of a pre-historic baleine.
01:01A creature that populated this region when Egypt was submerged by the seas.
01:06Today, the Valley of the Baleines is the largest cimetière of ancient baleines.
01:11You could ask yourself about the presence of marine creatures in the middle of the desert,
01:15at more than 100 kilometers from the most close coast.
01:17Well, there are millions of years, this desert formed the foundation of an immense ocean,
01:22the Thethys, which extended from Europe to the Inde.
01:25When the level of the sea has decreased, the ocean has left behind him an ancient ocean marine,
01:30now jonched of fossils.
01:31The fossils of some of the most ancient species of baleines,
01:34knowns, are located here,
01:36offering the researchers a unique perspective on the evolution of the gigantic cétacés modern.
01:42These vestiges are an remarkable precision,
01:44some keeping even intact contents.
01:47The scientists have also put on the ground fossils of ancient requins, crocodiles and turtles,
01:52allowing to reconstitue the appearance of this marine world
01:55disappeared for millions of years.
01:58The first osements of baleines were discovered in 1902,
02:02but it was only from the 1980s that the region was really explored,
02:06when its access improved.
02:08Unfortunately, before the site did not benefit from official protection,
02:12several vestiges were removed by collectors.
02:14The majority of fossils, just empty under the surface,
02:18are gradually placed on the ground by erosion.
02:21The valley of the baleines offers a fascinating window
02:23on millions of years of life in ancient years.
02:26But let's move on more.
02:28The ancient baleines fossils of the ancient baleines
02:29do not constitute the only discovery that awaits you today.
02:33For more than 150 years,
02:34scientists have been intrigued by a strange creature
02:37who had lived a million years ago.
02:40Thanks to the exceptional fossils made on the ground,
02:42the mystery is finally resolved.
02:45Look at it, these creatures have the name of stylophores.
02:50They looked like a plattery armor where there emerged a long arm.
02:54The researchers discovered these specimens in 2014
02:57and were stupéfaits.
02:58The fossils were up to about 478 millions of years.
03:03About 450 specimens were found.
03:05And, as far as possible,
03:08some were still preserved tissues.
03:10Until then,
03:12the stylophores were only known via their hard parts.
03:15And, initially,
03:16the scientists considered them as simple echinodermes
03:19to the image of the oursins and the stars of the sea.
03:22But, of recent discoveries revealed that they have a central body
03:26and a breast breast,
03:27like that of the stars of the sea,
03:29equipped with a system vasculaire aquifère
03:32facilitant their displacement and their alimentation.
03:34This discovery met fin
03:36to a long debate
03:37concerning the place of stylophores
03:39in the phylogenetic field.
03:40We know now that they are apparent
03:42to the echinodermes,
03:43but they are distincts
03:44by the absence of a symphony to five eyes.
03:47Come and see this gigantic fossil fossil.
03:50Discovered in the Sahara,
03:52it allowed scientists
03:52to study their knowledge
03:54on the spinosaure,
03:56the most big carnivore carnivore known.
03:58His vestiges,
03:59datant of 95 millions of years,
04:02confirm that it was also
04:03the first dinosaur nager identified.
04:06The spinosaure
04:07had flat feet
04:08in form of a baguette
04:09and the narines
04:10located at the top of his cranes,
04:12similar to that of a crocodile.
04:14These characteristics
04:15are ideal for the aquatic life.
04:17This amazing dinosaur
04:19with its long tail,
04:20his tronc,
04:21his cue
04:21and a two meters
04:23on the top of his head
04:24was very likely
04:24a lot of time in the water.
04:26With a long length
04:27surpassing the 15 meters,
04:29it could even have been
04:30more imposing than the tyrannosaure.
04:32The first rest of spinosaure
04:34have been discovered
04:35in Egypt
04:36about a century
04:37but it is only
04:39with this Moroccan fossil
04:40that scientists
04:41could reconstruct
04:42the anatomy
04:43of this incredible
04:43dinosaur.
04:45The researchers
04:46have taken attention
04:47particularly
04:48to his posterior members
04:49and to his large griffes
04:51adaptions
04:52typical
04:52of the aquatic life.
04:54His museo
04:55and the density
04:56of his eaux
04:57also confirm
04:57his aptitudes
04:59of nager,
05:00while his cranes
05:01could probably play
05:02a role in the attraction
05:03of partners.
05:04Hey,
05:05hello,
05:05the most beautiful
05:05boogos.
05:07Here is another
05:08impressive discovery
05:09made in Tunisie.
05:11The rest of
05:12the Machimosaurus rex.
05:14Considered
05:15until now
05:15the biggest crocodile
05:17ever identified,
05:18this ancient reptile
05:19measured
05:20about 10 meters
05:21long
05:21for about 3 tons.
05:24He was born
05:25in the number of
05:26over 130 millions
05:27years
05:28with a crane
05:29measured by 1,50 m.
05:31This discovery
05:32is significant,
05:33because it proves
05:34that these crocodiles
05:35have survived
05:35much longer
05:36than we thought.
05:37Before that,
05:39scientists said
05:40that they had disappeared
05:41during a minor episode
05:42of extinction
05:43between the Jurassic
05:44and Crétacé periods.
05:46Let's go back
05:47to the fact that
05:47the Sahara,
05:48once again covered
05:49with water,
05:50had some of the marine creatures
05:51the most gigantic
05:52ever known.
05:54A study published
05:55in the bulletin
05:55of the American History Museum
05:57mentioned
05:58an ancient plan
05:59called
05:59the maritime
06:00trans-saharienne.
06:02It had existed
06:04between 100
06:04and 50 millions
06:05of years ago
06:05and extended
06:07to a part
06:07of the West Africa.
06:09Scientists
06:10have spent
06:11about two decades
06:12to reconstitue
06:13this pre-historic ecosystem.
06:15They discovered
06:16that it was
06:17hot and low,
06:18welcoming
06:18terrifying creatures
06:20such as
06:211,50 m
06:22and 12 m
06:23sharks
06:23of sea
06:23terrifying,
06:27This maritime network
06:28isolated
06:29of the large oceans
06:30during long periods
06:31would favor
06:32the increase
06:33of the size
06:33of its predators
06:34thanks to a constant
06:35availability
06:36of resources.
06:38It's a classic
06:39evolution
06:40leading to the phenomenon
06:42that the scientists
06:42call them
06:43gigantism
06:44in isolated environments.
06:47In other words,
06:48all this eau
06:49has not disappeared
06:49without letting
06:50trace.
06:50In the Sahara,
06:52the researchers
06:53have put on a
06:54gigantic lake
06:55ancient
06:55surnom
06:56Megalak,
06:57a well-known name.
06:58This lake
06:59has formed
06:59about 250,000 years
07:02when the Nil
07:02has inonded
07:03the east of the Sahara.
07:04At its peak,
07:05it covers over 100,000 km2,
07:07so about half
07:08of the surface
07:09of Kansas.
07:10The scientists
07:11also discovered
07:12the traces
07:13of a smaller lake
07:14located
07:15at 150,000 km
07:16west of the Nil,
07:17at a slightly lower level
07:19and covering
07:20nearly 50,000 km2.
07:22All this
07:23adds to the growth
07:24of growing evidence
07:24of many lakes
07:26in the North Africa
07:27which would have
07:28formed
07:29routes of migration
07:30as well as
07:31the displacement
07:32of the first humans
07:33across the continent.
07:34The Sahara
07:35does not only
07:36have fossils
07:36of strange animals.
07:38In May 2020,
07:40the inhabitual roaches
07:41formed
07:41of crystals
07:42were discovered
07:43in the southern
07:44region of the
07:45south of the Algerian.
07:46After analysis,
07:47the scientists
07:48concluded
07:48that these roaches
07:49did not come from the earth,
07:50but it was actually
07:51fragments
07:52of a meteorite
07:53called
07:54Erg Chech 0023.
07:57This meteorite
07:58is extremely old
07:59being considered
07:59as the most old
08:01volcanic volcanic
08:02ever found.
08:03It was formed
08:04there hundreds of years
08:05in the heart
08:06of a protoplanet
08:07today
08:08disappeared.
08:09A recent study
08:10published
08:11in Nature Communications
08:12has revealed
08:13that the analysis
08:14of isotopes
08:15and uranium
08:16present in
08:17Erg Chech 002
08:18allowed
08:19to date
08:20more than 4,5
08:22billion years
08:22of years.
08:23Another intriguing
08:24discovery
08:25made in the Sahara
08:26was completely unexpected.
08:29scientists
08:29put on the ground
08:31what they consider
08:32to be the most
08:33ancient colors
08:33in the world
08:34of an explosion
08:36These pigments,
08:37extraits
08:37from old rocks
08:38of about 1,1 billion years
08:40from
08:42microorganisms
08:42at a time
08:43where animals
08:44did not exist yet.
08:46This discovery
08:47was made
08:48by a doctor
08:49who had
08:50broyed the old rocks
08:51and studied
08:51their pigments.
08:53The last one
08:53appeared to be
08:54an ancient chlorophyll
08:55from photosynthetic organisms
08:57living in an ocean
08:59since long
08:59disappeared.
09:00The researchers
09:01are now convinced
09:02that this discovery
09:03could explain
09:04why
09:04bigger and more complex
09:07organisms
09:07are appeared
09:08later
09:08in our history.
09:10Before
09:10these pink pigments
09:11were discovered,
09:12scientists ignored
09:13the evolution
09:14of big animals
09:16in the food chain
09:18They now understand
09:19that microscopic cyanobacteria
09:21are found
09:22at the base
09:22of this chain.
09:24This discovery
09:24does not limit
09:25the identification
09:25of ancient pigments
09:26but represents
09:28a major advance
09:28in understanding
09:30the history of life
09:31on our planet.
09:31The next!
09:32The next!
09:33The next!
09:33The next!
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