ByJack Durschlag From Wn.com

Researchers at a Swedish firm were recently astonished to discover dozens of mummified baby crocodiles hidden alongside a massive adult embalmed by ancient Egyptians around 2,500 years ago, IFL Science reported Tuesday.

The 3-meter-long (10-foot-long) crocodile has spent nearly two centuries on display at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, yet the small army of hatchlings had until now gone undetected, the report said.

The discovery was made by Swedish firm Interspectral, which carried out 3D CT scans on the crocodile.

A previous study in the 1990s had revealed the enormous adult was in fact accompanied by a second crocodile, but failed to spot the individually wrapped babies – of which there appear to be at least 47.

Curator Lara Weiss believes the reptiles were probably mummified as an offering to the crocodile god Sobek, BBC News reports.

Regarding the newly discovered hatchlings, she said “you can’t see them very well on the old scans unless you know they’re there – and we never expected to find this.”

The finding provides new insights on the beliefs and customs of the ancient Egyptians. Famous for preserving their dead, the residents of Egypt regularly performed mummification rituals on animals as well as humans, and this latest discovery is certainly not the first of its kind, the report said.

IMAGES:

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Creative Commons/Judd Patterson

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