Bastetodon was classified as a species of the extinct group of carnivorous mammals called hyenodonts, which evolved long before modern carnivorous animals.

Scientists have discovered a nearly complete skull of Bastetodon syrtos, a fierce prehistoric carnivore, in Egypt’s Fayum Depression.

About 30 million years ago, parts of Egypt were covered in lush forests. Within those trees, lurked an order of fearsome big cat-sized carnivores called Hyaenodonta. These apex predators thrived after the dinosaurs went extinct, but would eventually meet their own untimely end.

The species, known as Bastetodon and named for an Egyptian goddess, had sharp teeth and an incredibly powerful grip

Scientists have discovered a “fearsome” new species of carnivore that lived 30 million years ago, after finding a skull in the desert in Egypt. The “leopard-sized” mammal known as Bastetodon is believed to have coexisted with hippos and early elephants in what was then a lush forest in Fayoum,

The new species was identified following the discovery of a near-complete skull in the Egyptian desert of Fayum.

A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the "dream" revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, Hyaenodonta.