Some were the size of a dog. Others were as large as polar bears. A newly-discovered fossil of the ferocious hyaenodont is helping scientists understand a little bit more about the mysterious creatures.

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.

A nearly complete skull fossil found in Egypt has revealed a new species of Hyaenodonta, an apex carnivore that mysteriously went extinct about 25 million years ago.

Buried beneath the sun-scorched sands of Egypt’s Fayum Depression, a place where ancient forests once flourished, scientists have unearthed the skull of a fearsome predator that ruled the land 30 million years ago.

A nearly complete skull of a leopard-sized carnivore was discovered in the Egyptian desert. Anastasiia Riddle. More Videos. Toronto crash passenger recounts when Delta plane flipp

Paleontologists have made an extraordinary discovery in one of Africa’s most important fossil sites, unearthing a new ancient carnivore species known as the Bastetodon. During a recent excavation in the Egyptian desert,