Al-Sarrar, Locality 14, Dam Formation (Miocene of Saudi Arabia)

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.

•Formation is Burdigalian in age, see Chan et al. 2017 and Ali et al. 2021 for despotional history of Dam Formation.

Environment/lithology: fluvial; lithology not reported

• 'The lithologies, sedimentary structures (presence of palaeocurrents in loc. 6 and 8), the character of the fauna exclusively continental and the deposition laid down into low energy zone (specially in loc. 6 and 8 explaining the scarcity of small vertebrates and the association of postcranial bones) suggest a fluviatile environment.'
• No lithology given for locality 14.

Size class: mesofossils

Collection methods: bulk,

• Al-Sarrar localities 4-9 and 11-24 can all be dated within a short period of time.

•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 47089: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 08.02.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Cf. Schweboemys sp. may possibly be from this locality.
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Strombidae
Strombus sp. Linnaeus 1758 conch
 Neogastropoda - Conidae
Conus sp. Linnaeus 1758 cone shell
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Naticidae indet. Guilding 1834 moon snail
Bivalvia
 Ostreida - Ostreidae
Ostrea latimarginata Vredenburg 1908 oyster
 Carditida - Crassatellidae
cf. Salaputium sp. Iredale 1924 clam
Reptilia
 Testudines - Pelomedusidae
Pelomedusidae indet. Cope 1868 sideneck turtle
undetermined remains. Also, cf. Schweboemys (locality uncertain - ? locality 14)