An Nafud desert, Locality 2 (Pleistocene of Saudi Arabia)

Also known as An Nafoud

Where: Saudi Arabia (27.1° N, 39.1° E: paleocoordinates 26.9° N, 38.9° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.0 Ma)

• The faunal remains come from lacustrine deposits which overlie an ancient dune system and the Middle Miocene Ajfar Formation.

Environment/lithology: lacustrine; siltstone

• The lacustrine deposits fill concave depressions on top of the old white eolian sand and are commonly covered laterally by the present dune system; this indicates that they were formed in several isolated lakes which were probably not synchronous.
• The bones from locality 2 come from a thin siltstone layer interbedded between the ancient eolian sand and a dm-thick bed of of lacustrine carbonate.

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: Locality 2 was discovered in 1995. A total of 'a few hundred specimens' have been recovered from the three localities together.

Primary reference: H. Thomas, D. Geraads, D. Janjou, D. Vaslet, A. Mesmesh, D. Billiou, H. Bocherens, G. Dobigny, V. Eisenmann, M. Gayet, F. Lapparent Broin, G. Petter, and M. Halawani. 1998. First Pleistocene faunas from the Arabian Peninsula: An Nafud desert, Saudi Arabia. Comptes Rendus Academie des Sciences, Paris, Sciences de la terre et des planetes 326:145-152 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/M. Carrano]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 48858: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 01.04.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Carnivora - Canidae
Vulpes cf. vulpes
Vulpes cf. vulpes Linnaeus 1758 red fox
1 right metatarsal (JMI 25)
 Carnivora - Felidae
Panthera cf. gombaszoegensis
Panthera cf. gombaszoegensis Kretzoi 1938 cat
1 left 3rd metacarpal (JMI 27), assigned to species on the basis of size.
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus sp.
Equus sp. Linnaeus 1758 horse
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Bovidae "indet. 1", Bovidae "indet. 2", Alcelaphini indet., Oryx sp.
Bovidae "indet. 1" Gray 1821 antelope
The rear part of a skull (JMI 38).
Bovidae "indet. 2" Gray 1821 antelope
The base of a left spiralled horn-core (ANA 49)
Alcelaphini indet. Brookes 1876 antelope
a few isolated lower and upper molars.
Oryx sp. de Blainville 1816 oryx
cranial, dental and skeletal specimens.
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelidae indet.
Camelidae indet. Gray 1821 camel
1 maxilla with poorly preserved M1, and P3 and P4 roots.
Reptilia
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Geochelone (Centrochelys) cf. sulcata
Geochelone (Centrochelys) cf. sulcata Miller 1779 African spurred tortoise
1 anal part of a xiphiplastron, 1 medial part of carapace (JMI 131) of a large male.
Actinopteri
 Teleostei -
Osteoglossiformes indet.
Osteoglossiformes indet. Berg 1940
posterior part of a maxilla (JMI 134)