India, Oct. 7 -- Scientists have discovered a new species of extinct crocodilian in rock used to build the Sphinx of Giza in Egypt. The animal is similar to the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) found today in the rivers of North India.

"Gharials are a group of crocodiles characterized by their long, narrow snouts. Today, there are only two living species, Gavialis gangeticus and the so-called false gharial Tomistoma schlegelii, which live in South and Southeast Asia, respectively. However, fossil finds show that gharials previously had a distribution over almost the entire world for a period of more than 100 million years and that many species lived in shallow marine environments," a statement by the Swedish National Museum of Natural Histo...