Massive Shark Graveyard Found in Egyptian Desert

Scientists find more evidence of a massive graveyard
of marine organisms in the midst of a desert plateau.
Could this be more cumulative evidence of the Global Flood?

Massive shark graveyard found
in Egyptian desert plateau

by Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds

Sharks seem to have devoured news outlets this year, bearing witness to the Biblical account. From providing evidence of intelligent design ‘sharkitecture’, to showcasing amazing biomedical applications. One of the latest discoveries involving sharks providing one more evidence of the validity of Biblical accounts is from a forthcoming article:

Egyptian shark graveyard: New Late Cretaceous lamniform shark assemblage from Duwi Formation of Abu-Tartur area, southwestern Desert, Egypt. (Yassin et al., Cretaceous Research, January 2027).

The discovery involves a new Late Cretaceous lamniform shark assemblage in the Duwi Formation of the Abu-Tartur Plateau, Egypt: an inland location hundreds of kilometres from the Mediterranean coast and far removed from the Red Sea. This area has a hot desert climate today. Evolutionary scientists involved with the find have hailed it as shedding “new light on the paleodiversity and chronological context of extinct lamniforms inhabiting tropical seas during the Late Cretaceous in North Africa.”

Yet, when examined critically, this assemblage of fossil sharks provides cumulative evidence that correlates with other fossil patterns worldwide: marine organisms preserved inland and even atop mountains. In this article, we briefly examine the claims and why this find could provide yet more evidence pointing to a historical Global Flood as described in Genesis.

Evolution as Shark Bait:
The Case for Evolution Weakens Further

From the beginning of the article, the authors contextualize the findings within evolutionary timelines of the late Cretaceous. In describing the parallel geological history in evolutionary terms, they stated that:

“The Campanian and Maastrichtian stages (Late Cretaceous) are characterized by the fragmentation of the southern megacontinent Gondwana which ended in the nearcomplete departure of most of the southern landmasses…. This event influenced the evolutionary trails of many continental and marine vertebrate groups….”

Contextualized in this supposed timeline, Yassin et al. highlight how the Duwi Formation phosphate beds yielded at least five shark species: Cretalamna cf. C. maroccana, Scapanorhynchus cf. S. raphiodon, Serratolamna cf. S. serrata, Squalicorax bassanii, and Squalicorax pristodontus.

Understandably from an evolutionary perspective, the authors express surprise about several observations in a number of places in the article. Among the elements of surprise was that for at least two of the species, this was the first discovery in that location. Additionally, there were surprises about the estimated age of the fossil. In the authors’ words, they noted that:

“…this likely represents the first record of Scapanorhynchus cf. S. raphiodon in Africa, and this could represent the stratigraphically youngest report for this taxon.”

Yassin and colleagues, being led by evolutionary perspective, are rightfully surprised, as they apply their knowledge about the expected range for survival of the species. To understand the significance of the timeline contrast between evolutionary predictions and the lamniform discovery, we must explore the story of the tectonic events that supposedly took place during the Late Cretaceous.

This period is taught as a time of continental fragmentation, involving the breakup of Gondwana (the Southern landmass of Pangaea). This fragmentation, evolutionists believe influenced the evolutionary trajectories of both continental and marine vertebrates, including the dispersal of sharks such as Scapanorhynchus cf. S. raphiodon being explained by shifting ocean currents, newly formed seaways, and gradual ecological adaptation supposedly over millions of years. The Egyptian shark graveyard is thus placed within a narrative of slow geological change, continental drift, and evolutionary diversification.

Yet this interpretation raises pressing questions. If Gondwana’s fragmentation was gradual, how do we account for mass fossilization, which requires rapid burial? How can evolutionary timelines reconcile delicate preservation with slow tectonic shifts and sedimentary accumulation? Questions are also warranted regarding the surprises expressed. For instance, why do species thought to have vanished earlier reappear in “stratigraphically younger” layers?

The issue with this discovery is that it adds to a trove of revisions that have to be repeatedly made by evolutionists on the story of species emergence and extinction.

If evolutionary timelines are supposed to be precise, why do fossils or other observations repeatedly appear “out of place” (not as the exception but appears to now be the rule of the game)? Each new discovery forces recalibration of the evolutionary narrative, undermining the validity of its predictive power. In contrast, creationists expect evolutionists to be surprised by such finds. Fossils are consistently found in contexts that defy gradualist expectations but align with catastrophic burial.

Great White Shark (Illustra Media, Living Waters)

Evolutionary Timelines Bite the Dust
More Evidence for a Global Flood

A key question to ask would be: If a Global Flood did occur, what would we expect in this instance? The short answer would fit what the Egyptian plateau finding revealed: mass graveyards of marine organisms in the middle of dry continental landmasses. While the answer may be more obvious to some, how would interpretation of such evidence differ using an evolutionary framework?

The standard gradualist explanation of the finding of the inland marine fossils is to invoke the idea of ancient shallow seas during the Campanian–Maastrichtian stages of the late Cambrian era. From a gradualist perspective, Gondwana was in the process of fragmentation, which was accompanied by various phases of seas rising and falling (marine transgressions, progressions, and regressions). According to this model, the inland desert was once covered by tropical seas, which later retreated as continents shifted (resulting in local flooding).

Despite these explanations, several conundrums persist with the evolutionary interpretation of these observations. Among these include:

• Global distribution puzzle: Similar shark fossils are found across Africa, Europe, and North America. Evolutionary science explains this through continental drift over millions of years, but the synchronous burial of marine organisms worldwide is more consistent with a single catastrophic flood.
• Inland desert paradox: The Abu-Tartur Plateau is a desert today, hundreds of kilometers inland. Evolutionary explanations require imagining vast shallow seas covering deserts, then slowly retreating. Why would seas repeatedly advance and retreat across continents, leaving behind phosphate-rich fossil beds, without invoking catastrophe?
• Preservation mechanism questions: Evolutionists appeal to phosphate mineralization and chemical weathering to explain fossil preservation during gradual processes. However: Why do phosphate-rich fossil beds occur across multiple continents, in synchronous layers, if preservation is merely local chemical weathering? Shouldn’t such processes vary widely depending on local geochemistry, rather than producing consistent global patterns? As phosphate-rich layers indicate massive organic deposition, would this consistency across continents be more coherent with flood-driven burial of marine life than local floods?

Cumulative evidence makes it more reasonable to suggest that this newest Egyptian find better fits the Global Flood model: waters covered the earth, depositing marine organisms across continents. In this model, the “youngest report” reflects how floodwaters buried organisms in different layers depending on hydrodynamic sorting, ecological zonation, and sedimentary flow.

In addition to these, the authors themselves also admitted surprise at the level of mixture in the shark assemblages found. In their commentary to Live Science, they remarked the following:

“Finding teeth belonging to seven different shark species was particularly remarkable, especially because they were all discovered in the same location, in the middle of an entire plateau,” Yassin said. “This discovery is more than simply a large assemblage of shark fossils.”

The existence of so many shark species in the same area suggests it was once home to a nutrient-rich, complex ecosystem, with plenty of smaller fish to feed these apex predators. However, the discovery doesn’t necessarily mean these sharks coexisted; rather, their remains may have become jumbled together in the same sediment over time, the study authors noted.”

While the authors admit to the finding indicating a “nutrient-rich, complex ecosystem”, this evidence of coexisting assemblages is more logically consistent with floodwater sweeping across ecosystems.

Complementing Existing Floods of Evidence

The Egyptian shark graveyard is not an isolated case. Fossils of marine organisms are found worldwide in contexts that defy evolutionary expectations:

• Mount Everest fossils: Ammonites and trilobites high in the Himalayas.
• North American shark teeth: Found inland in Kansas and Nebraska.
• South American whale fossils: Discovered in the Andes mountains.

In several other studies in Africa, scientists have also found abundant shark teeth preserved in phosphate layers. For example: Morocco phosphate beds, specifically, the Ouled Abdoun Basin contains similarly preserved abundant shark teeth similar to Egypt’s Duwi Formation. These deposits are interpreted as marine transgressions, yet the sheer density of the fossils suggests catastrophic burial.

More ‘Sharking’ Discoveries to Come…

The Egyptian shark graveyard in the Duwi Formation adds to the growing body of evidence that marine fossils inland and atop mountains are best explained by a global flood. While evolutionists continue to find these “sharking” discoveries (shocking their framework), the surprise expressed in their own words betrays the inadequacy of evolutionary theory. The Bible, by contrast, provides a coherent explanation: a recent creation, a global flood, and fossils as reminders of judgment and mercy.

As described in Genesis 7, the Egyptian shark graveyard fits well with the description of waters covering “all the high mountains under the entire heavens.” This inland graveyard is precisely the kind of evidence we would expect if this account were historical. As we meet upon stories such as these, we can grow in confidence of the validity of God’s Word, as evidenced in the world around us.

Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds is a Christian, Jamaican, Environmental Science researcher, and journal associate editor. She holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona with high commendation, and a postgraduate specialization in Geomatics at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. The quality of her research activity in Environmental Science has been recognized by various awards including the 2024 Editor’s Award from the American Meteorological Society for her reviewing service in the Weather, Climate and Society Journal, the 2023 L’Oreal/UNESCO Women in Science Caribbean Award, the 2023 ICETEX International Experts Exchange Award for study in Colombia. and with her PhD research in drought management also being shortlisted in the top 10 globally for the 2023 Allianz Climate Risk Award by Munich Re Insurance, Germany. Motivated by her faith in God and zeal to positively influence society, Dr. Buckland-Reynolds is also the founder and Principal Director of Chosen to G.L.O.W. Ministries, a Jamaican charitable organization which seeks to amplify the Christian voice in the public sphere and equip more youths to know how to defend their faith.