Sunday
21 January 2001
Lower
Persian Gulf (Abu Dahabi) - More than 1,000
fossilized remains in freshwater habitats,
discovered during an expedition between 1990 and
1995 in what is now Abu Dhabi's Jebel Al Dhana,
have lately been proved to be around 5-23 million
years old, and it was a convinced signal that
there was life in the Western Region of today Abu
Dhabi in Lower Persian Gulf as early as in the
Late Miocene Age.
These
fossils, unearthed and examined by the
London-based Natural History Museum, have recently
been devolved on by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore
Oil (ADCO), which sponsored the whole expedition
project, to the country's Environmental Research
and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) for
reference, further scientific research and public
exhibition.
The
leading local newspaper said that the fossils
mainly include an elephant's head, a crocodile's
jaw, the jaw of an extinct animal similar to the
hippopotamus and teeth weathered by sandstone.
These
teeth are proved to be from an extinct animal
called small pony that had three toes on each
foot. The archaeological findings have enlightened
that the Lower Persian Gulf has the most diverse
paleontological heritage of any southern regions
and was once a very important area for wildlife
millions of years ago.
Source:
XINHUA
