Where: Saudi Arabia (26.0° N, 49.4° E: paleocoordinates 22.9° N, 46.8° E)
• coordinate based on nearby landmark
When: Dam Formation, Burdigalian (20.4 - 16.0 Ma)
• Late Early Miocene. There are 3 Formations in the succession - the Hadruck, Dam and Hofuf (Hofuf overlies the others). Type section of the Dam Formation is Jabal al Lidam. The depth of the formation at Al-Sarrar varies, but is around 30m. Near the Arabian Gulf the Formation is entirely marine, with more continental facies inland. The Al-Sarrar area is an area of 'continental sediments interbedded with the marine series'.
•Fauna has been collected from a number of localities which have been entered individually.
Environment/lithology: fluvial; sandstone
Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils
Collection methods: bulk,
• Al-Sarrar localities 4-9 and 11-24 can all be dated within a short period of time. Localities 5,6,7,8, and 9 are considered contemporaneous.
•1 ton of unconsolidated sand and silt from localities 6,8,9 and 21, has been sifted and has produced rodent teeth.
•All fossil material housed in the Department of Antiquities and Museums at Riyadh.
Primary reference: H. Thomas, S. Sen, M. Khan, B. Battail, and G. Ligabue. 1982. The Lower Miocene Fauna of Al-Sarrar (Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia). Atlal 5(3a):109-136 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details
Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis
PaleoDB collection 47074: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 07.02.2005, edited by Philip Mannion
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
•Also finds of Viperidae may possibly be from this locality.
•Sirenia ribs found in surface deposits, but cannot be correlated with uppermost beds of localities 6, 8 and 9.
unclassified | |
Gastropoda | |
Turritella sp. Lamarck 1799 turret shell | |
Aves | |
Aves indet. Linnaeus 1758 bird 1 proximal tarsometatarsal (AS 1203) and a distal radius (868). The poor state of the specimens seems to exclude the possibility of a more precise identification.
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Reptilia | |
Crocodylia indet. crocodilian | |
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aff. Cycloderma sp. Peters 1854 softshell turtle | |
Pelomedusidae indet. Cope 1868 sideneck turtle | |
aff. Stereogenys sp. Andrews 1901 sideneck turtle | |
Colubridae indet. Oppel 1811 colubrid snake | |
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Mammalia | |
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Dorcatherium cf. libiensis Hamilton 1973 chevrotain 1 upper 1 (AS 978), 1 upper M2 (AS 895), 1 molar (AS 908), 1 cubo-navicular-cuneiform (AS 904), 1 distal tibia (AS 970), 1 distal metapodial fragment (AS 902), 1 calcaneum (AS 894), 1 proximal ulna (AS 907).
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Bovidae indet. Gray 1821 antelope An upper M3 (AS 899). Similar in size to the living Dorcas Gazelle.
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? Primates indet. Linnaeus 1758 primate 1 distal tibia (AS 896), only doubtfully referred to a primate.
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Amphibia | |
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Actinopteri | |
Lates sp. Cuvier 1828 lates | |
Heterobranchus sp. Hilaire 1827 airbreathing catfish
Clarias sp. Scopoli 1777 catfish |