UAE | Heritage and Culture
Digging up ancient past to unearth forest's secrets
A natural history team from Yale University has arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin a four-year project in collaboration with the Historic Environment Department at the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
- By Eman Mohammed, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:36 January 1, 2008
- Marilyn Fox of Yale University and Walid Yasin of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage excavate the fossilised jaws of an elephant in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi.
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
Abu Dhabi: A natural history team from Yale University has arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin a four-year project in collaboration with the Historic Environment Department at the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
The joint project concerns the investigation of the Baynunah Formation, a set of geological deposits rich in fossils in Abu Dhabi's Western Region.
The team from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History led by Professor Andrew Hill and Faysal Bibi from Yale University, is working in Abu Dhabi for one month surveying and mapping fossil sites.
These sites date back about six to eight million years ago, a time known as the late Miocene epoch. During that time Abu Dhabi was greener than today, with rivers flowing through it teeming with hippos, crocodiles, turtles and fish. Forested areas and savanna-like grasslands were occupied by animals such as elephants, rhinos, giraffes, horses, antelopes and ostriches.
The team includes members of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage's (ADACH) Historic Environment Department. The joint ADACH-Yale team has so far carried out surveys at Hamra, Ras Dubay'ah, Ras Al Qal'a, Shuwaihat and Jebel Barakah.
Further work this year is planned for Mleisa, Niqa, Umm Al Ishtan and Jaw Al Dibsa. Several important new fossil specimens have already been discovered including the remains of an extinct giant form of ostrich as well as the jaws of an extinct elephant.
The fossils of Abu Dhabi contain elements in common with sites of a similar age from Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as a number of new species.
ADACH's historic environment team is currently working on an extensive project mapping the location of all the fossil sites within Abu Dhabi.
Share this article
More from UAE Heritage & Culture
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Napolitano warns against anti-Muslim backlash
- Fog sweeps the UAE
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
- So what will it take to float Gulf News' boat?
- Arab world's future is with solar energy
Community Reports
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
-
Surprising truth of 'abandoned cars'
An Abu Dhabi resident believes that some mechanics are using parking spaces as rent-free workshops
