Ch ter27 Late Miocene Fossils from the Baynunah Formation, United Arab Emirates Summary of a Decade ofNew Work

FAYSAL BIBI, ANDREW HILL, MARK BEECH, AND WALID YASIN

'Ihe region of AI Gharbia (previously known as the West­ remains have been collected over three decades. 111ese ern Region) comprises much of the area of Abu Dhabi fossils include remains ofhippopotamus, giraffes, croco­ Emirate west of the city of Abu Dhabi and bears the only diles, rodents, turtles, catfish, ratites, machairodont felid, known late Miocene terrestrial fossil biota from the en­ and hyaenids, as well as bivalves, gastropods, and fossil tire Arabian Peninsula. Driving along the Abu Dhabi-As wood. The Baynunah Formation records a time when a Sila' highway, which runs parallel to the Gulf coast and perennial river supported a rich ecosystem in what is connects the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia, one now a hyperarid part of the world. encounters a landscape of low dunes to the south, and By way of biochronology, the Baynunah fossil fauna is sabkha (supratidal salt flats) and the sea to the north. In­ estimated to be between 8 Ma and 6 Ma (Whybrow and terspersed on both sides of the highway are low-lying Hill 1999). No other terrestrial fossil sites of late Mio­ jebels (hills), at most rising about 60 m above the sur­ cene age are known from the remainder of the Arabian rounding terrain. 111ese jebels are capped by a resistant Peninsula. The Baynunah fauna, then, represents the sole gypsum-anhydrite-chert bed that produces character­ sample available to chart the biotic continuity between istic table-top forms, or mesas. 111e sediments of these late Miocene Arabia and neighboring contemporaneous flat-topped jebels have been formally described as the fossil sites in Asia (e.g., Siwaliks, Marageh), the Mediter­ Baynunah Formation (Whybrow 1989) and are com­ ranean (Pikermi, Samos), and Africa (Sahabi, Toros­ posed mainly of reddish fine- to medium-grained sands Menalla, Lothagam, Tugen Hills). of dominantly fluvial origin, along with brown and green Since the publication of a monographic treatment of silts, alternating sand-carbonate sequences, gypsum, and the Baynunah fossils (Whybrow and Hilll999), renewed fine intraformational conglomerates. Several horizons fieldwork activities have brought new light to elements of within the Baynunah Formation bear fossils, either body the Baynunah fossil fauna. 1l1is chapter summarizes the parts or traces, of vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant taxa latest knowledge on the fossil biota of the late Miocene (figures 27.1 and 27.2). Baynunah Formation. From the sites of Rumaitha in the east to Jebel Bara­ kah in the west, and from the sites of Shuwaihat in the north to Jaw AI Dibsa in the south, the area across which HISTORY OF EXPlORATION the Baynunah Formation is exposed forms a long east­ west trending quadrangle measuring 180 x 45 km, cover­ The first indications of the presence of vertebrate fossils ing 8100 km2 (figure 27.3). Interspersed within this area from AI Gharbia came with the explorations of oil geolo­ are over two dozen documented sites from which fossil gists working in the 1940s (Hill, Whybrow, and Yasin 584 WEST ASIA AND ADJACENT REGIONS

Figure 27.1 Excavating lower jaws of a proboscidean at the site of Hamra 3-1. To t he south, in the background, are the upper beds of the Baynunah Formation. Taken on December 17, 2007.

1999). The first publication of fossil remains from AI of important new sites (Beech and Higgs 2005), including Gharbia came with Glennie and Evamy's (1968) descrip­ sites preserving footprint trackways (Higgs et al. 2003). tion of fo ssil root casts and mention ofprobo scidean tooth In 2003, Bibi was invited by the Abu Dhabi Public Works remains from Jebel Barakah. Peter Whybrow (Natural Department to further explore the Baynunah deposits. History Museum, London [N.H.M.]) made fossil discov­ Two visits to AI Gharbia in that year with small teams re­ eries in AI Gharbia in 1979 and 1981, and described addi­ sulted in the discovery of new sites and some 200 new tional fossil root casts that he interpreted as mangroves fossil specimens, including the ratite Diamantornis laini (Whybrow and McClure 1981). In 1983, an archaeologi­ (Bibi et al. 2006). In December 2006, Bibi and Hill joined cal survey ofAI Ghat-bia by the Abu Dhabi Department of Beech and Yasin under the invitation of the newly estab­ Antiquities and Tourism including Yasin and a team of lished Abu Dhabi Authority fo r Culture and Heritage German archaeologists (Vogt et al. 1989) resulted in the (A.D.A.C.H.) for a brief survey of the AI Gharbia sites. first significant collection of fossils from a number of sites Since the completion of this chapter, A.D.A.C.H. has be­ in Al Gharbia. Upon invitation of the Department of An­ come the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority tiquities, Hill in 1984 visited Abu Dhabi to evaluate the (A.D.T.C.A.). December 2007 saw the inception of the recently collected fossils. In 1986, collaborative work be­ current Yale- A.D.A.C.H. project, with annual fi eldwork gan between Whybrow and Hill, and in 1989 a joint Yale-­ expeditions to the Baynunah Formation. N.H.M. expedition was initiated to study the AI Gharbia fossil deposits. Extensive work on the Baynunah Forma­ tion, up to 1995, was given monographic treatment in FOSSIL FAUNA OF THE BAYNUNAH Fossil Vertebrates of Arabia (Whybrow and Hill 1999). FORMATION

Beginning in 20021 the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeologi­ cal Survey, including Beech, undertook work on the Bay­ An up-to-date li sting of the entire Baynunah fossil fauna nunah deposits. This included the discovery and salvage is given in table 27.1. Fieldwork since 1995 (Whybrow and LATE M IOCENE FOSSILS FROM THE BAYNUNAH FORMATI ON, UN ITED ARAB EMIRAT ES 585

Baynunah Stratigraphy Baynunah Magnetostratigraphy (Ditchfield1999) (Hailwood & Whybrow 1999) GPTS Displacive gypsum/anhydrite (Cande & Kent 1995) caprock with tabular cherts

D Interbedded fine grained sandstones and micritic white limestones with gastropod molds and footprints

D Interbedded fine grained sandstones and clays

6.5 Large scale cross-bedded fine c grained sandstone with abundant .Q rootlets "'E & .s:: ro c ? ::J Foolprint fossils Body fossils c D D ? ro>- m 7.0 ?

Intra-formational conglomerates and sandstones with fossil remains Aeolian layers interspersed

Conglomerate containing extra-formational clasts

Mudstone with gypsum sheets c .Q E Dune bedded aeolian sandstone &"' Wavey laminated overbank deposits .s:: with abundant celestite rootlets ·~"' ::J Fine grained fluvial sandstone with .s:: climbing ripples, clay drapes and (f) soft sediment deformation

c 0 E ·.:: Dolomites with marine bivalves and o"' §ro abundant displacive anhydrite ~

Figure 27.2 Stratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy of the Baynunah Formation. Body fossils (of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants) are recov­ ered from multiple horizons in the lower part of the Baynunah, while footprint fossils are recorded from carbonates correlating to the upper por­ tion. Stratigraphic column reproduced from D1tchfield (1999:fig. 7.2), and paleomagnetic data from Hailwood and Whybrow (1999:fig. 8.5). The high frequency of polarity reversals in the period between 8 Ma and 6 Ma (Cande and Kent 1995) means any correlation of the Baynunah w ith the GPTS 1s equivocal, but the presence of at least four reversals 1n the Baynunah suggests a duration of 300,000 yr or more for this formation.

Hill l999) has added the following taxa to the Baynunah 2006); the giraffid Palaeotragus cf germaini; and a sciurid fossil fau nal list: two species of snake, one of which may rodent (Kraatz, Bibi, and H ill 2009). TI1ese come in addi­ be a colubri d; a sawfish (Pristidae); eggshells of two di f­ tion to significant new material found ofa lready-recorded fe rent ratites, Diamantornis laini and an aepyornithid­ taxa that will increase knowledge of the recorded forms li ke fo rm (Bibi et al. 2006); an anhinga (Stewart and Beech and result in further taxonomic resolution. Among these -

586 WEST ASIA AND ADJACENT REGIONS

A50Km

.,~ • oo Rumaitha Mleisa

JawAI• Dibsa 0 • Bida' AI Moutawi'a

Oman . ------,.;/

Africa Saudi Arabia Ocean

Figure 27.3 Map and satellite image of AI Gharbia showing main fossil localities. Black circles denote loca lities with body fossils; white circles denote fossil trackway sites.

are ostracods and foraminifera from the carbonates of Stegotetrabelodon syrticu s, and mandibles of the shovel­ the upper Baynunah; additional remains of the thryono­ tusked proboscidean (Amebelodon/"Mastodon" grandinci­ myid (cane rat) that suggest assignment to Paraulacodus sivus); and a deciduous monkey premolar, only the second and additional remains of the endemic gerbil Abudhabia primate specimen to have come from the Baynunah For­ baynunensis; a ratite synsacrum larger than that of modern mation (Hill and Gundling 1999). Strutl1io that might be associated with either fossil eggshell In addition, fossil trackway sites have been discovered type; new mandibular remains of Hipparion that will help (figure 27.4), adding a new d imension of study to the further characterize H. abudhabiense (originally diagnosed Baynunah fossil fauna (Higgs et al. 2003; Higgs, Gar­ on a partial mandible); relatively abundant remains of fos­ dener, and Beech 2005). Currently, at least three sites are sil proboscideans, including several mandibles, tusks and known at which footprint remains of proboscideans and tusk fragments, a cranium, and postcrania attributable to ungulates are preserved in carbonates (figure 27.3). These Table 27.1 Baynunah Faunal List

Toros Siwaliks Lower Menalla Sahabi Greco· Dhok Taxon Nawata 266 Mb.U Afn ca Afghan Pat han Remarks

Plantae "Algae" Gen. et sp. indet. Leguminosae ?Acacia sp. Protista Foraminifera (in progress) Mollusca Gastropoda Buliminidae ?Subzebrinus or "Palaearctic and Oriental" ?Pesudonapaeus (Mordan 1999) Bivalvia Mutelidae Mutela sp. G Unionidae Leguminaia sp. G Iraq Crustacea Ostracoda Cytherideidae Cyprideis sp. Pisces Si luriformes Clariidae Clarias sp. (G) (G) G G Bagridae Bagrus shuwaiensis (G) G G Cypriniformes Cyprinidae Barb us sp. G Pristiformes Pristidae (in progress) Reptilia Crocodilia Crocodylidae Crocodylus cf. niloticus G/ (S) G/ (S) G/(S) G/(S) Crocodylus sp. Gavialidae ?Ikanogavialis S. America, Australasia Gavialidae gen. ct sp. indet. Testudines Trionychidae Trionyxsp. G G G Testudinidae cf. Mauremys sp. (G) (G) Geochelone (Cen trochelys) G G Subgenus Ceutroclrelys Libya, Tunisia, aff. sulcata possibly Saudi Arabia (de Lapparcnt de Broin and van D ijk 1999) Squamata cf. Colubridae Colubridae spp. (in progress) Aves Ratitae lncertae sed is Diarnantomis la ir1i s s 'Aepyornithid-type' eggshell 'G' 'G ' 'G' Pelicaniformes A nhingidae Anhinga sp. G G G Today worldwide Ciconi iformes Ardeidae Gen. et sp. indet. Mammalia Artiodactyla Hippopotamidae Archaeopotamus aff. G/ (S) (G) G/(S) lothagarnensis Bovidae Pachyportax latidens s Prostrepsiceros aff. libycus G/ (S) G/(S) Prostrepsiceros aff. vi11 ayaki (S) (S) Gazella aff. lydekkeri G G (S) Tragoportax cyrenaicus (S) s s (continued) Table 27.1 (cont inued)

Toros Siwaliks Lower Menalla Sahabi Greco- Dhok Taxon Nawata 266 M b. U Africa Afghan Pathan Remarks

cf. Neotragini (in progress) Giraffid ae Palaeotragus germaini s s (in progress) ? Bramatheriwn (G) (G) gen. et sp. indet. S.uidae Nyanzachoerus syrticus s s s s Propotamoclroerus lrysudricus s Carnivora Mustelidae Plesiogulo praecocidens G G G Species from China (Barry 1999) Felidae Machairodontinae ger1. et sp. indet. Hyaenidae gen. et sp. indet. "very large .. gen. et sp. indet. " medium-size " Perrisodactyla Equidae Hipparion abudhabiense (S) (S) Hipparion sp. Rhinoceratidae gen. et sp. indet. Rodentia Muridae Abudhabia baynunensis G G G G Genus in China also Myocricetodon (sp. nov.?) G G G G Genus in China also Parapelomys cf. charkhensis G G Dendrorrws aff. me/a notus G Genus in Spain also Derrdromus sp. Dipodidae Zapodinae gen. et sp. indet. "Asiatic" (de Bruijn 1999) Thryonomyidae cf. Paraulacodus (G/S) (G / S) Genus recorded from mid-Miocene (in progress) Siwaliks (Flynn and Winkler 1994) Sciuridae gen. et sp. indet. l nsectivora Soricidac gen. et sp. indet. Primates Cercopithecidae gen. et sp. indet. Proboscidea Deinotheridae gen. et sp. indet. Elephantidae Stegotetrabelodon syrticus G s s (S) Species occurrence in Italy (Ferretti, Rook, and Torre 2003) Gomphotheriidae cf. Amebelodon / (G) (G) (G) (Amebelodontidae) ?"Mastodorr" grandincisivus

NOTE: Genera or species in common with other sites are denoted by G or S, parentheses denot ing uncertainty (usually result of a cf. designation). SOU RC E S: Agusti (2008); Badgley ct a\. (2008); Barry (1999); Bishop and Hill ( 1999); Boisscrie (2005); de Bruijn (1999); de Lappa rent de Broin and van Dijk (1999); Eisenmann and Whybrow (1999); Ferretti, Rook, and Torre (2003); Flynn and Winkler (1994); Forey and Young (1999); Gentry (1999); Geraads and Gule<; (1999); H iggs et al. (2003); Hill and Gundling (J999);Jeffrey ( 1999); Mordan ( 1999); Rauhe et al. (1999); Sa nders (2.008); Sen (1998); Tassy (1999); Whybrow and Clements (1999); Whybrow et al. ( 1990). LATE MIOCENE FOSSILS FROM THE BAYNUNAH FORMATION, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 589

(1968) interpreted as the remains of dune-stabilizing vegetation (contra Whybrow and McClure 1981). Paleocurrent readings indicate Baynunah rivers de­ rived from the northwest or west as outlined by Friend (1999). Topographically, the most likely western water­ shed and source that could provide a river system to the AI Gharbia area is the Wadi Sahba in Saudi Arabia (e.g., Whybrow and Hill 2002). A modern analogue for the Baynunah River can be sought in the Nile, which today flows its course through hyperarid parts of Sudan and Egypt. A late Miocene river system that is broadly analo­ gous to the Baynunah one is the As Sahabi River, which took its source largely from the Tibesti Mountains in Chad and flowed north through a proto-Sahara to empty in the Mediterranean (Drake, EI-Hawat, and Salem 2008). Though no clear aeolian beds are present in the Bay­ nunah, the underlying Shuwaihat Formation includes within it large aeolian dune beds (Bristow 1999). Much as Schuster et al. (2006) interpreted aeolian beds from the northern Chad Basin to indicate the onset of desertic conditions in the Sahara by around 7 Ma, the presence of aeolian deposits in the Shuwaihat Formation provides early evidence for the presence of desert conditions in the Arabian Peninsula going back to at least the late Mio­ cene. The Shuwaihat Formation dune beds may push the evidence for desertification in Arabia even further back, if the age of this formation is accepted as being middle Miocene (15 ± 3Ma in Hailwood and Whybrow 1999). The upper parts of the Baynunah Formation bear Figure 27.4 One of at least 10 proboscidean trackways at the site of about a 15m sequence of fine sands and clays alternating Mleisa 1. with carbonates. The carbonates are resistant to erosion and are extensively exposed several kilometers inland as deflated surfaces that are highly reflective and easily visi­ same carbonates also preserve molds of gastropods pro­ ble from satellite imagery (see figure 27.1). Within these posed to be "?cerithid" (Ditchfield 1999). large exposures are located three footprint sites, two of these recording proboscidean trackways (Higgs et al. 2003) and one site with an ungulate trackway. These PALEOENVIRONMENTS OF THE BAYNUNAH same carbonates include ostracods and molds ofgast ro­ pods resembling cerithids, suggesting a marine or brack­ Despite the presence of a perennial river system in AI ish water origin. Shells ofMelanoides reported from above

Gharbia1 the environment in this region was clearly arid the M leisa 1 trackway carbonate by Higgs eta!. (2003) during the late Miocene. Though arid environments are suspiciously well preserved. Despite years of field­ are clearly recorded in the sediments of the Shuwaihat work, no other occurrences oflVIelanoides have ever been Formation underlying the Baynunah (Bristow 1999), found, neither at Mleisa 1 nor at any other site from the there is no unambiguous sedimentological evidence for Baynunah Formation. Accordingly, we suspect the Mleisa arid environments in the I3aynunah Formation. Fine- to 1 Melanoides to be surface finds not deriving from the medium-grained quartz sands with frosted grains (D. Baynunah Formation itself. Peppe, pers. comm.) and large-scale cross-beds are com­ The Baynunah deposits are exposed over a long area monly observable. Gypsum-cemented root casts are that is parallel to the coastline and that at its widest present in many such layers, which Glennie and Evamy reaches at least 45 km (see figure 27.3). It is apparent that 590 WEST ASIA AND ADJACENT REGIONS

the original river system ranged over an even wider area discussion (Hill et a!. 1985; Hill l 999a, 1999b, 2002). in the course of its temporal span. A single fossil vertebra Each of these three sites is situated within a different Af­ recovered in Decem~er 2007 is identifi able as a sawfish rican region, and each shares taxa in common with the (Chondrichthyes: Pristidae). Living sawfish are known Baynunah fauna. Baynunah taxa with affinities to Sahabi to inhabit shallow marine or estuarine environments, of­ include Geochelone ( Centrochelys) aff. sulcata, Myocrice­ ten swimming far up river. The discovery of sawfish re­ todon, and Amebelodon/"Mastodon" grandincisivus. Taxa mains among the Baynunah fauna begs further consider­ in common between the Baynunah and the Lower Nawata ation of the proximity of the marine shoreline to the include Archaeopotamus aff. lothagamensis, Diamantornis Baynunah fluvial system. It is conceivable that a proto­ laini, and perhaps Pa raulacodus. Gulf seaway may have been in existence, even though intermittently, in the area to the north or west of late Miocene AI Gharbia. CHRONOLOGY AND DURATION

No tuffs or other volcanics are present in the Shuwaihat PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE BAYNUNAH or Baynunah formations. As a result, age estimates for the Baynunah so fa r derive exclusively from biochro­ The geographic location of the Baynunah Formation, at a nological correlations. Previous age estimates based on lo cus between the Asian, European, and African conti­ biochronology had placed the Baynunah fa una at some­ nents, is reflected in its fossil fauna (see table 27. L), which where between 8 Ma and 6 Ma in age. More recently, comprises a unique mix of taxa not found together else­ Archaeopotamus (Boisserie 2005) and Diamantornis laini where. Taxa known from the Siwaliks, such as the bovid (Harris and Leakey 2003; Harrison and Msuya 2005; Pachyportax latidens and the suid Propotamoclwerus hy­ Bibi et a!. 2006) have been determined to be present in sudricu s, are found with otherwise African taxa, includ­ the Baynunah fauna. These two taxa are also present in ing the ratite Diamantornis laini, the hippopotamid Ar­ the Nawata Formation, specifically in the Lower Mem­ chaeopotamus, and the giraffid Palaeotragus cf. germaini. ber but not the Upper Member. While the maximum age Perhaps with the exception of the bivalve Leguminaia, of the fossil fauna from the Lower Member is not pre­ all Baynunah fossil taxa are shared between either Afri­ cisely determined, the upper limit of this member is can or southern Asian (Siwaliks) faunas, with no taxa firmly established as at 6.5 Ma by the Marker Tuff (Mc­ uniquely indicative of the Greco-lrano-Afghan zone (de Dougall and Feibel 2003). Similarly, the suid Propota rno­ Bonis et al. 1992). This is intriguing given the relative choents hysudricus (Bishop and Hill 1999) ranges from proximity of sites such as Injana (Brunet and Heintz 10.2 Ma to 6.8 Ma (Badgley et al. 2008). Assuming simi­ 1983) and Marageh (Bernor 1986). It appears that fau­ lar taxonomic age ranges applied in Arabia, these three nal exchange was very much a fu nction oflatitude, with taxa tentatively propose a minimum age limit of 6.5 Ma environ mental factors permitting biotic dispersal in for the Baynunah. east-west directions and restricting it in north-south Kingston (1999) sampled fossil enamel from the Bay­ directions. The Himalayan-Zagros-Tauride mountain nunah for stable carbon isotopes and discovered a domi­ range has been proposed as ad ispersal barrier through­ nant C -feeding signal in teeth of Stegotetrabelodon sp., 4 out the late Miocene between sites in the Siwaliks/ Iraq Hipparion abudhabiense, Hipparion sp., ?Bramatheriurn and the Greco-Afghan biogeographic zone (Brunet and sp., Tragoportax cyrenaiws, and Archaeopotamus aff. lo­ Heintz 1983; Brunet et al. 1984; Beden and Brunet thagamensis. Analysis of paleosol carbonates indicated 1986). the presence of mixed C -C habitats (but no C - 3 4 4 The Baynunah fauna includes a much larger number of dominated habitats [Kingston 1999]). In the Siwaliks taxa in common with African rather than Siwaliks as­ and the Tugen Hills, the first enamel isotope values indi­ semblages (see table 27.1). Three African sites dating to cating a pure Co~ diet (o 18C values > - 2%o) do not appear between 8 Ma and 5 Ma and with extensive faunal lists until around 7 Ma (Ceding, Wang, and Quade 1993; are chosen for comparison with the Baynunah: Toros­ Morgan, Kingston, and Marino 1994). The first C4- Menalla (Chad; Vignaud et al. 2002), the Lower Member dominated habitats (paleosols) do not appear in the of the Nawata Formation at Lothagam (Kenya; Leakey Siwaliks until 7.37 Ma (Quade et a!. 1989; Quade and and Harris 2003), and Sahabi (Libya; Boaz et al. 2008), Ceding 1995; Barry eta!. 2002), though this is not ap­ but collections from the M pesida Beds and Lukeino For­ parent in the paleosols of the Tugen Hills sequence mation of the Tugen Hills, Kenya, are also relevant to this (Kingston, M arino, and Hill 1994). If the presence of LATE MIOCENE FO SS ILS FROM THE BAYNUNAH FORMATION, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 591

a significant C component in habitats and diets can be 4 creased the potential for further fossil discoveries in the assumed to have had a similar chronology in the Arabian AI Gharbia region. Current annual fieldwork efforts con­

Peninsula, then the presence of a strong C 4 dietary signal tinue to focus on the survey and documentation of fos­ in the Baynunah fauna might establish the maximum age siliferous exposures in land of the coastal sites. of this ass~mb l age as being around 7.4 Ma. Paleontological work in AI Gharbia is a race against On the basis of the above evidence, then, we tenta­ the rapid rate ofdevelopment characteristic of the United tively suggest a constrained age of between 7.5 Ma and Arab Emirates. All the Baynunah fossil sites are in real 6.5 Ma fo r the Baynunah Formation. Continued fo ssil danger of development activities that either destroy them discoveries and analysis will help more p recisely con­ or make them inaccessible to scientists. For example, strain the age of this fossil assemblage. Most promis­ sites on Shuwaihat and Jebel Dhanna from which impor­ ing among these is perhaps the taxonomic determina­ tant fossil specimens were discovered and described tion of the ostracods from the carbonates of the upper (Whybrow and Hill 1999) have been appropriated by Baynunah. military and oil refinery installations. The Baynunah How long the Baynunab river system was in existence Formation type section at Jebel Barakah has itself in recent is currently not known. The collective fo ssil fauna ap­ years been greatly disturbed by earth-moving activities pears consistent with a si ngle temporal window, but in and is now in a military area. Access to coastal and inland reality a late Miocene fauna could sample a million years Baynunah exposures is being continually restricted by or more before biochronological inconsistencies are de­ military, municipality, and oil industry appropriation. At tected. The presence of up to four polarity reversals in the this rate, it will be barely a matter of a decade before almost magnetostratigraphy of the Baynunah Formation (see all the fossil sites are compromised. figure 27.2i Hailwood and Whybrow l999:fig. 8.5) indi­ TI1e Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage is cates at least some geologically signi ficant duration of taking important measures toward site maintenance and time is represented. According to the geomagnetic polar­ awareness that in some cases have proved successful at ity timescale (Cande and Kent 1995), 12 polarity rever­ protecting fossil sites. These include fencing-off certain sals are present in the period between 8 Ma and 6 Ma, sites such as the Mleisa trackways and the placement of with magnetochron durations varying between 34 ka signs informing of the proximity of sites. These are, how­ and 368 ka. This gives some indication that a span of over ever, effectively temporary measures, and without the 300 ka might easily be accommodated by the Baynunah enactment of legislation and enforcement the fossil sites sediments, though without a direct chronological tiepoint, of AI Gharbia continue to remain in real threat of dam­ it is not possible to say more at the moment. Ongoing pa­ age. Paleontological work in the Al Gharbia region takes leomagnetic work promises to build a more complete and on the aspect of a salvage mission, whereby fossiliferous precise local Baynunah magnetostratigraphy that will deposits are studied and documented in anticipation of help better determine the age and duration of this set of their being lost in the near future. deposits.

CONCLUSION SITE DOCUMENTATION, MAINTENANCE, AND SALVAGE Since 1999, fossil discoveries have continued to be made in the late Miocene Baynunah Formation in AI Gharbia, Exploratory work since 1999 has significantly increased Abu Dhabi Emirates. Since 1996, annual fieldwork ef­ the recognized areal extent of the Baynunah fossil depos­ forts were restarted as a collaboration between Yale Uni­ its. In particular, this has come with the discovery of fos­ versity and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and sils from a number ofar eas further inland than had previ­ Heritage, headed by the four authors. All in all, renewed ously been known. Primary among these are the sites of efforts have resulted in the collection of hundreds of new Jaw AI Dibsa (or Umm al-Ishtan), Bida' AI Mutawa'a h, fossil specimens, containing among them new taxa not and Mleisa. Jaw Al Dibsa comprises a collection of sites before known from the Baynunah, and better representa­ bearing remains of proboscideans, bovids, giraffids, fish, tion of known taxa that promises further refinement of ratites eggshells, and fossil wood. The Bida' AI Mutawa'ah the faunal list. This comes in addition to the discovery and Mleisa sites are fossil trackway sites where probos­ of new fossil sites much further inland than had previ­ cidean and ungulate footprints have been discovered ously been known, including sites preserving trackways of (Higgs et a!. 2003). The discovery of these sites has in- proboscideans and an ungulate. Analyses seeking pollen, 592 WEST ASIA AND ADJACENT REGIONS

phytoliths, and an improved local paleomagnetic stratig­ 111ents of tire E111irate of Abu Dlra bi, U11ited Arab E111irates, cd. P. J. raphy are underway, as are sedimentological studies of the Whybrow and A. P. Hill, pp. 203- 208. New Haven: Yale Univer­ sands and carbonates of the Baynunah Formation. These, sity Press. Barry, J. C., M. E. Morgan, L. J. Flynn, D. Pilbeam, A. K. Behrens­ in conjunction with the information provided by the meyer, S.M. Raza, l. A. Khan, C. Badgley,). H icks, and]. Kelley. fossil remains, should help better determine the age, 2002. Faunal and environmental change in the late Miocene duration, and paleoenvironments of the Baynunah Siwaliks of northern Pakistan. Paleobiology 28(S2):1-7L. Formation. Beden, M. and M. Brunet. 1986. Faunes de mammiferes et pah!obio­ geographie des domaines ind iens et peri-indiens au Neogene. Sci­ CIIces de Ia Terre 47:61-87. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Beech, M. and VII. Higgs. 2005. A new late Miocene fossil site in Ruwais, Western Region of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In Emirates Heritage, ed. P. H ellyer and M. Z iolkowski, vol. 1 We would like to thank Xiaoming Wang and the organiz­ pp. 6 - 21. Abu Dhabi: Zayed Centre for H eritage and History. ers of the Asian Mammal Stratigraphy conference that Bemor, R. L. 1986. Mammalian biostratigraphy, geochronology, took place at the IVPP in Beijing in 2009 for the opportu­ and zoogeographic relationships of the late Miocene Maragheh nity to participate in the meeting and contribute to this fauna, Iran. Joumal of\!ertebrnte Paleontology 6(1):76-95. volume. The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology gener­ Bibi, F., A. B. Shabel, B. P. K raatz, and T. A. Stid ham. 2006. New fos­ ously supported costs of travel and attendance for F. sil ratite tAves: Palacognathae) eggshell d tscovencs from the Late Miocene Baynunah Formation of the United Arab Emirates, Bibi. Paleontological work in AI Gharbia is supported Arabian Peninsula. Palaeontologia Electronica 9(1); 2A:l3 pp., by the Abu Dhabi Authority on Culture and Heritage 554KB; http:/ / palaeo-elcctronica.org/ paleo/ 2006_ 1/ eggshell (ADACH), the Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative /issue!_ 06.htm. (National Science Foundation, USA, grant no. 0321893), Bishop, L. C. and A. Hill. 1999. Fossil Suidae from the Baynunah an NSF International Research Fellowship Award (grant Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In Fos­ no. OISE-0852975), Yale Peabody Museum, Yale Uni­ sil Vertebrates of Arabia: With Emphasis 011 tire Late Miocene Fau­ versity Provost's Office, Institute de Paleoprimatologie llas, Geology, and Pnlncoe11 vironments of tire .E111imte of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, ed. P. J. Whybrow and A. Hill, pp. 254- Paleontologie Humaine (IPHEP), Agence Nationale de 270. New Haven: Yale University Press. Ia Recherche ANR-09-BLAN-0238. Additional support Boaz, N. T., A. El-Arnauti, P. Pavlak is, and M. J. Salem, eds. 2008. has come from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Circum-Mediterranean geology and biotic evolution during the and the Abu Dhabi Public Works Department. We are Neogene Period: 1he perspective from Libya. Garyow1is Scientific also grateful to the following individuals for support: M. Bulletin, Specinllssue 5. AI Neyadi, H. H. Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed AI Nahyan, Boisseric,J.-R. 2005. The phylogeny and taxonomy ofHippopotami­ J.-R. Boisserie, Jacques Gauthier, F. C. Howell, P. Vign­ dac (Mammalia: Artiodactyla): A review based on morphology and cladistic analysis. Zoological joumal of tlt e Linnean Society aud, Elisabeth S. Vrba, T. White, and to the following for 143:1- 26. their contributions to fieldwork and study: B. Kraatz, N. Bristow, C. S. 1999. Aeolian and sabkah sediments in the Miocene Craig, D. Evans, M. Fox, A. Haidar, W. Joyce, S. Lokier, Shuwaihat Formation, Emirate ofAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emir­ 0. Otero, D. Peppe, M. 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a ~~------...... 594 WEST ASIA AND ADJACENT REGIONS

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