ABU DHABI, March 28, 2006 (WAM) - An important new site for fossil bones of ancient elephants has been discovered near Bida Al Mutawa, in Abu Dhabi's Western Region, by a team from the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS, part of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority, ADCHA.

Their work has been supported by TAKREER, the Abu Dhabi Refining Company, a part of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, Group.

The bones date back to the Late Miocene period, around 6 to 8 million years ago. The fossil site was first discovered by Hamed Majid al-Mansouri and other personnel from Abu Dhabi's Animal Welfare Unit, part of the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, and were reported to President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan late last year. Following instructions from Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an ADIAS team visited the site and confirmed that the bones were, in fact, from fossil elephants. Other fossil bones from the same period were also identified, as well as fossil tree roots up to ten metres long.

A team including a top fossil expert from London has now completed excavation of several major fossil bones and has brought them back to Abu Dhabi for scientific conservation and possible later display.

The Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority, ADCHA, Mohammed Khalaf al-Mazroui, has welcomed the new find.

"This latest find shows that there is still much to be discovered about our ancient heritage," he said. "Through its locally-based archaeologists and with the help of foreign experts, the Culture and Heritage Authority will continue efforts to find and to record our heritage and to ensure that it is more widely understood by all of the residents of Abu Dhabi." The General Manager of TAKREER, Ali Saeed Al Badi, commented: "As part of its Health, Safety and Environment policy, TAKREER is committed to protecting and preserving the heritage of the country. Studies of this kind are an important part of that process, and we are glad to have the opportunity, once again, of supporting this work." An ADIAS spokesman commented: "This is an important new discovery and will add much to our knowledge of the extinct wildlife that once lived in Abu Dhabi. We are particularly grateful to TAKREER for their support.

TAKREER has previously provided help for our research into fossil bones from elephants and other animals found at the site of its hazardous waste treatment plant near Ruwais, and we are pleased to be working with them once again on this further research into the UAE's fossils. The Bida Al Mutawa fossils are particularly interesting, because they include parts of these ancient elephants that have not previously been found in Abu Dhabi, and this will help us to learn more about the structure of these animals. The Bida Al Mutawa site is also in an area where fossils from this period have not previously been identified. This extends our knowledge of the distribution of Abu Dhabi's large extinct animals." Further support for the fossil excavations was provided by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and by the Animal Welfare Unit, part of the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, EAD.

During the Late Miocene period, Abu Dhabi was a land of wide open plains with large, slow-moving rivers, rather like today's savannahs of East Africa. Previous studies at the TAKREER site at Ruwais and elsewhere in Abu Dhabi's Western Region have showed that a large variety of animals then lived in the region, including primitive elephants, horses, hippopotami, gazelles, crocodiles and turtles.

A small exhibition of some of the fossils found during previous work by ADIAS and by scientists from the United States and Britain is currently on display in the headquarters of EAD.