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.

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.

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 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.

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.