MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS

MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS - WIRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄż ł=START= XMT: 10:19 Mon Mar 30 EXP: 10:00 Tue Mar 31 ł ł ł łOMAN TO CONDUCT MORE DETAILED SEARCHES FOR FOSSILS IN DESERTł łWEST OF GHABA ł ł ł ł(MARCH 30) MIDDLE EAST NEWS NETWORK - MUSCAT - Oman is to ł łconduct more detailed searches for fossils in the gravel ł łdesert west of Ghaba, 100 kms from Nizwa, following the new ł łdiscoveries of fossils of an elephant and other animals at ł łthe place in February. ł ł ł łThe Ghaba fossils, belonging to the lower Miocene period, ł łabout 17 million years ago, will provide important links ł łbetween the fossils of animals found in Dhofar in February ł łand three earlier expeditions, Mr. Zaher bin Khaled al- ł łSulaimani, a member of the Omani-French fossil hunting team,ł łsaid yesterday. ł ł ł łThe Dhofar fossils are proven to be the oldest in the world,ł łrefuting the theory that elephants, monkeys and rodents ł łoriginated in Africa. ł ł ł łMr. Al-Sulaimani, who is a geologist at the Ministry of ł łPetroleum and Minerals told the Times in an exclusive ł łinterview: ''In future hunts we will concentrate our ł łsearches in Ghaba to unearth more fossils of animals from ł łthe area.'' ł ł ł łThe next search will be undertaken in a couple of years or ł łearlier, both in southern and northern Oman, but more time ł łwill be spent in the northern region he added. ł ł ł łDuring the February expedition, the 8-member expedition teamł łspent 20 days in Salalah and 10 days in Ghaba. Besides Mr. ł łAl-Sulaimani, the other Omani on the team was Mr. Salim al- ł łBusaidi, also working at the Ministry of Petroleum and ł łMinerals. ł ł ł łIn the February search, the team discovered fossilised teethł łof elephants in both Ghaba and Dhofar, belonging to an ł łextinct species known as ''mastodons.'' ł ł ł łFossils of rhinoceroses, giraffes, turtles and crocodiles ł łwere also discovered. ł ł ł łThe fossils have been sent to the Natural History Museum in ł łParis for analysis which will take six months to complete, ł łMr. Al-Sulaimani said. ł ł ł łSimilar fossils of elephants have been found in Africa, ł łEurope and Asia. ł ł ł ł''The Omani finds are important because they prove that the ł łArabian Peninsula was a kind of crossroad for mammal ł łdispersion between Africa and Eurasia during the past,'' Mr.ł łAl-Sulaimani said. ł ł ł łThe latest Dhofar fossils are of a ''very primitive member ł łof the elephant family.'' ł ł ł ł''Their cheek teeth are considerably smaller than those of ł łliving elephants and consist of four cusps of tubercles ł łarranged in two ridges. '' ł ł ł ł''In contrast, the Ghaba teeth are much larger, measuring ł łabout 10 cm long and 4 cm wide and consist of 6 to 8 ł łtubercles arranged in pairs,'' he said. ł ł ł ł''The Dhofar teeth belonged to an animal about the size of ał łhippopotamus, while those from Ghaba came from an animal ł łalmost as big as the Indian elephant.'' ł ł ł ł''Found alongside these extraordinary discoveries are the ł łbones and teeth of many other terrestrial and freshwater ł łanimals including rhinoceros, giraffes, turtles and ł łcrocodiles,'' Mr. Al-Sulaimani said. ł ł ł łThe assemblage of fossils from Ghaba indicates that the areał łused to be much more humid during the lower Miocene period ł łthan it is now. ł ł ł łThe team also found fragments of fossilised palm trees ł łassociated with the ones and teeth. ł ł ł łThe climate in Ghaba was then probably like that of parts ofł łKenya in tropical Africa supporting a woodland or forest ł łvegetation and varied fauna, Mr. Al-Sulaimani said. ł ł ł łThe fossil finds indicate that ''Oman was separated from ł łAsia by the sea, but joined to Africa, which is why the ł łolder Dhofar fauna (30 to 33 million years old) was similar ł łto that from the rest of Africa and has species in common ł łwith Asia or Europe.'' ł ł ł ł''Oman is thus proving to be of major scientific importance ł łin yielding crucial evidence concerning ancient faunas of ł łthe world and their distribution '' he said. ł ł ł ł''As each time a fossil hunt is undertaken we find new ł łfossils, we will continue our search for many years to ł łcome,'' Mr. Al-Sulaimani added. ł ł ł łFrom: Times of Oman ł ł ł ł=END= ł