Late Eocene Sea Cows (Mammalia, Sirenia) From Wadi Al Hitan In The Western Desert of Fayum, Egypt

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94568/1/Papers_On_Paleontology_37_12-17-2012.pd

Late Eocene Sea Cows (Mammalia, Sirenia) from Wadi Al Hitan in the Fayum Basin, Egypt.

Protosiren, Eotheroides, and Eosiren are all known from the Fayum Basin, and all are represented by exceptionally complete skulls and axial skeletons with pectoral and pelvic girdles. The skeletal remain of Protosiren and Eotheroides of the Birket Qarun Formation in Wadi Al Hitan are of special interest because they represent an intermediate stage of evolution and an intermediate stage of secondary adaptation to life in water. Eotheroides (Dugongidae, Halitheriinae) is described for the first time from the Priabonian of the Wadi Al Hitan. The two Wadi Al Hitan species Eotheroides clavigerum sp. nov. and Eotheroides sandersi sp. nov. are most similar to Eotheroides aegyptiacum (Owen, 1875) from the Lutetian nummulitic limestone beds of Cairo. They share the following derived characteristics: prominent falx cerebri and bony tentorium in the roof of the braincase; nasals long and in contact along the midline; palate broad with its posterior border posterior to the toothrow; and anterior ribs pachyosteosclerotic. Wadi Al Hitan Eotheroides were medium to large dugongs, ranging in length from 1.5 to 2.5 m; the skull is robust and heavy; the rostrum is deflected and bears medium to diminutive tusks; the trunk is widest between the ninth and eleventh thoracics; the end of the tail was fluked; the pelvis is greatly reduced with a shallow acetabulum, but retains an expanded club-like ilium; and the femur is short and slender. There cannot have been any substantial lower leg or foot. Protosiren, Eotheroides, and Eosiren all exhibit secondary sexual dimorphism of the bony pelvis. As in modern dugongs, males of the Eocene species consistently have the distal thickness of the ischium about twice as that of the ramus, where females ischia and rami have approximately equal thickness. The coexistence of Protosiren smithae, Eotheroides clavigerum, and Eotheroides sandersi in the same biotope reflects the diversity of this group in early Priabonian Tethys. The observed morphological diversity reflects dietary and environmental specialization and niche partitioning. Seagrass preserved as leaf impressions in Priabonian marine mammal beds is a direct indicator of the shallowness of Tethyan waters in the Fayum Basin.Ph.D.GeologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61796/1/zalmouti_1.pd

Karkaemys Arabicus, a New Side-Necked Turtle (Pleurodira, Bothremydidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Wadi Umm Ghudran Formation of Karak, Jordan

p. 155-177http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41253/1/Vol 31 No 6 Final.pd

New Species of Protosiren (Mammalia, Sirenia) from the Early Middle Eocene of Balochistan (Pakistan)

p. 79-87http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41257/2/C31-3.pd

Priabonian Sharks and Rays (Late Eocene: Neoselachii) From Minqar Tabaghbagh In The Western Qattara Depression, Egypt

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90948/1/Contributions32no06-c04-30-2012.pd

Eocene stratigraphy and archeocete whales (Mammalia, Cetacea) of Drug Lahar in the eastern Sumalian Range, Balochistan (Pakistan)

269-319http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48661/2/ID528.pd

Makaracetus Bidens, a New Protocetid Archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Early Middle Eocene of Balochistan (Pakistan)

p. 197-210http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41260/3/Vol 31 No 9 Final.pd

Taphonomic and zooarchaeological investigations at the middle Pleistocene site of Ti's al Ghadah, western Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia

In recent years, the Arabian Peninsula has emerged as a key region for elucidating hominin and faunal evolution and dispersals between Africa and Eurasia. Central to this research is the middle Pleistocene site of Ti's al Ghadah (TAG) which has yielded a diverse and abundant fossil faunal assemblage and the earliest chronometrically dated evidence for hominins in this part of the world. Here, we present the first detailed taphonomic study of the large Unit 5 fossil assemblage from the site. We aim to assess which actor/s were responsible for the accumulation of the assemblage and evaluate evidence that might be consistent with the accumulation of fauna by hominins. We also describe, for the first time, fossils and lithic artefacts from stratigraphic horizons not previously considered, providing taphonomic insights into their accumulation. The taphonomic work shows that the Unit 5 faunal assemblage was accumulated by ambush predators, likely large felids and hominins, in a lake side environment, and that carcasses were subsequently scavenged by more durophagus carnivores such as hyenas and canids. Less can be reliably said regarding the newly described fossil assemblages given their poor preservation and significant wind abrasion, but large carnivores again appear to have played a role, and hominins probably played a role in the accumulation of at least one of these. This study provides the first detail insights into the interplay between hominins, carnivores, and herbivores in Arabia, and suggests that watering holes have been a focus on the Arabian landscape for resources since the middle Pleistocene

First evidence for human occupation of a lava tube in Arabia: The archaeology of Umm Jirsan Cave and its surroundings, northern Saudi Arabia

Recent advances in interdisciplinary archaeological research in Arabia have focused on the evolution and historical development of regional human populations as well as the diverse patterns of cultural change, migration, and adaptations to environmental fluctuations. Obtaining a comprehensive understanding of cultural developments such as the emergence and lifeways of Neolithic groups has been hindered by the limited preservation of stratified archaeological assemblages and organic remains, a common challenge in arid environments. Underground settings like caves and lava tubes, which are prevalent in Arabia but which have seen limited scientific exploration, offer promising opportunities for addressing these issues. Here, we report on an archaeological excavation and a related survey at and around Umm Jirsan lava tube in the Harrat Khaybar, north-western Saudi Arabia. Our results reveal repeated phases of human occupation of the site ranging from at least the Neolithic through to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age. Pastoralist use of the lava tube and surrounding landscape is attested in rock art and faunal records, suggesting that Umm Jirsan was situated along a pastoral route linking key oases. Isotopic data indicates that herbivores primarily grazed on wild grasses and shrubs rather than being provided with fodder, while humans had a diet consistently high in protein but with increasing consumption of C3 plants through-time, perhaps related to the emergence of oasis agriculture. While underground and naturally sheltered localities are globally prominent in archaeology and Quaternary science, our work represents the first such combined records for Saudi Arabia and highlight the potential for interdisciplinary studies in caves and lava tubes

Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago.

Understanding the timing and character of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa is critical for inferring the colonization and admixture processes that underpin global population history. It has been argued that dispersal out of Africa had an early phase, particularly ~130-90 thousand years ago (ka), that reached only the East Mediterranean Levant, and a later phase, ~60-50 ka, that extended across the diverse environments of Eurasia to Sahul. However, recent findings from East Asia and Sahul challenge this model. Here we show that H. sapiens was in the Arabian Peninsula before 85 ka. We describe the Al Wusta-1 (AW-1) intermediate phalanx from the site of Al Wusta in the Nefud desert, Saudi Arabia. AW-1 is the oldest directly dated fossil of our species outside Africa and the Levant. The palaeoenvironmental context of Al Wusta demonstrates that H. sapiens using Middle Palaeolithic stone tools dispersed into Arabia during a phase of increased precipitation driven by orbital forcing, in association with a primarily African fauna. A Bayesian model incorporating independent chronometric age estimates indicates a chronology for Al Wusta of ~95-86 ka, which we correlate with a humid episode in the later part of Marine Isotope Stage 5 known from various regional records. Al Wusta shows that early dispersals were more spatially and temporally extensive than previously thought. Early H. sapiens dispersals out of Africa were not limited to winter rainfall-fed Levantine Mediterranean woodlands immediately adjacent to Africa, but extended deep into the semi-arid grasslands of Arabia, facilitated by periods of enhanced monsoonal rainfall