Ancient Elephant Footprints discovered in Abu Dhabi's Western Region

Ancient Elephant Footprints discovered in Abu Dhabi's Western Region ABU DHABI, Dec 9, 2003 (WAM) -- Hundreds of footprints made by ancient elephants and other animals have been discovered in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi by a team from the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS), it is announced today. These fossil footprints are the first of their kind ever discovered in the Arabian peninsula. Three sites with the footprints, believed to be 6 to 8 million years old, have been discovered in the Baynunah region, east of Ghayathi. The main footprint site, at Mleisa, is in the middle of a level whitish stone oval-shaped plain. Following an approach by ADIAS and by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, ERWDA, to Sheikh Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Municipality and Town Planning Department and Ruler's Representative in Abu Dhabi's Western Region, the Mleisa site has now been specially fenced by the Municipality. It will now be included in the network of protected areas being developed by ERWDA. An ADIAS team first identified the Mleisa site after hearing of a place with "dinosaur footprints" from a UAE national, Mubarak bin Rashid bin Mubarak al-Mansouri, Public relations and Transport Co-ordinator for the Jebel Dhanna terminal of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, ADCO. "We were initially sceptical," says Peter Hellyer, the ADIAS Executive Director. "The rocks in the Baynunah area are much younger than the Age of Dinosaurs. But when Mubarak al-Mansouri led an ADIAS team to the site, we were amazed to find that there were, indeed, footprints crossing the rocky plain. They are from animals that lived many, many million years after the last dinosaur, but they are, nonetheless, of major international scientific importance." "This discovery shows, once again, that the combination of scientific research and local knowledge can still produce magnificent results in terms of understanding the country's history and heritage." Following the initial discovery, ADIAS carried out a detailed study of the main Mleisa site. Research by Will Higgs (University of Bradford, UK) and Dr Mark Beech (ADIAS Senior Resident Archaeologist), suggests that the animals making the tracks were probably larger than the elephants of today. For comparative purposes, the tracks of three female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were recorded at Blackpool Zoo in the U.K. in March this year. These elephants had a shoulder height of about 2.5 metres. Comparison of the walking pattern of the modern elephants and of the fossil footprints suggests that the ancient elephants must have been significantly larger than their modern Asian counterparts, perhaps with a shoulder height of 3 metres or more. MORE WAM-VV 13 17 CCCCQQE