First Saudi Arabian dinosaurs found, give Jeff Goldblum more things to run away from

Published January 9, 2014 7:19pm

As if Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm, didn't have enough problems on his hands.

Dr Benjamin Kear and his fellow researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden, Museum Victoria and Monash University in Australia, and the Saudi Geological Survey unearthed unique treasures in the sands of Saudi Arabia: the kingdom’s first identifiable dinosaur fossils.

“This discovery is important not only because of where the remains were found, but also because of the fact that we can actually identify them,” he said.

Dr. Kear, who hails from Uppsala University in Sweden, led a team of scientists working under the supervision of the Saudi Geological Survey in Jeddah. Dr. Kear and his colleagues found several vertebrae from a sauropod, as well as two marginal teeth from a theropod.

The fossils were buried in Saudi Arabia’s Adaffa formation, a deposit of sandstone and conglomerates along the Red Sea’s coast. The researchers estimated the dinosaur bones to be approximately 72 million years old.

The team’s findings were published on December 26 in the online journal PLOS ONE.

“Indeed, these are the first taxonomically recognizable dinosaurs reported from the Arabian Peninsula,” said Dr. Kear.

An exceptionally rare find

According to Dr. Kear, fossilized remains of dinosaurs “are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula, with only a handful of highly fragmented bones documented this far.”

Australian scientist Dr. Tom Rich supported this statement. “Dinosaur remains from the Arabian Peninsula and the area east of the Mediterranean Sea are exceedingly rare because sedimentary rocks deposited in streams and rivers during the Age of Dinosaurs are rare, particularly in Saudi Arabia itself,” said Dr. Rich.

During the reign of the dinosaurs, Arabia, which had not yet separated from Africa, was bounded by the Tethys Ocean. Most of the land was still underwater when the gigantic creatures started to die out.

Dr. Kear had previously found fossils of plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, sharks, and turtles dating back to as early as the Cretaceous period during past expeditions in the area.

The researchers were able to identify the teeth due to their distinctive patterns. The scientists believe that the teeth belong to an abelisaur, a T. rex-like carnivore that walked on two legs and reached a maximum height of 20 feet.

On the other hand, the vertebrae are said to have come from titanosaurs – massive, long-necked plant-eaters that grew up to 65 feet long.

The scientists seem to be optimistic about more prehistoric discoveries.

“The hardest fossil to find is the first one. Knowing that they occur in a particular area and the circumstances under which they do, makes finding more fossils significantly less difficult,” affirmed Dr. Rich. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: paleontology, dinosaurs, jurassicpark