Sep 2022
The endless Phanerozoic sedimentary cover in Saudi Arabia has preserved an extensive prehistoric fossil record that is barely known to science, and a complete and clear image of successive biotas and their environment through geological history may not be assembled in the near future. However, paleontological and geological expeditions in Saudi Arabia since the 50s of the last century curried out by international Geological missions, and by the Saudi Geological Survey in the last 20 years, have provided us with extensive paleontological data and fossil collections enriched our knowledge about life in deep time in the country. Today I will highlight a list of outstanding fossil localities in the Saudi Arabia with emphasis on Mesozoic and Cenozoic examples. For the sake of this presentation two paleontological provinces have been assigned for Saudi Arabia: the first is the Arabian Peninsula Platform east and northeast of the crystalline basement of the Hijaz geological terrains (the Arabian Shield), while the second province is the remnant sedimentary cover preserved along the Saudi Red Sea coast plains and resting on the Arabian shield.
Iyad Saleh Zalmout is a geologist and vertebrate paleontologist, serving as the Paleontology Technical Advisor for the Saudi Geological Survey since 2016. He earned his B.Sc. in Geology from Yarmouk University-Jordan in 1994 and graduated with M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology and Paleontology from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor-USA in 2008. Awarded a 4-year National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Paleontology at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology in 2008. Served as a visiting professor for the Mammals Research Chair at King Saud University between 2012 and 2014. His research focuses on prehistoric life, paleogeography, and paleoecology of vertebrate fossils from Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras from Africa, Asia, and North America. His paleontological research activities span across many countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Madagascar, and has published and co-authored a plethora of articles based on his extensive paleontological discoveries. His graduate work at the University of Michigan focused on Eocene Tethyan marine mammals from Egypt and Pakistan that resulted in groundbreaking discoveries in the origin and evolution of primitive whales and sea cows. He is best known and credited for his discovery of the Oligocene primate Saadanius hijazensis in the western province of Saudi Arabia, a discovery that filled a crucial gap in the history of primate evolution, and his discovery of the Homo sapiens fossil remains in the Nafud Desert, a discovery that has defined the importance of the role of Saudi Arabia in prehistoric human migratory patterns. Zalmout and his paleontology team, lead and conduct research under the Saudi Geological Survey, and are currently collaborating with multiple agencies and prominent investors with focus of preserving Saudi Arabia’s geological heritage by highlighting the role of sustainability through scientific and environmental advancements.
This seminar is brought to you by Earth Science and Engineering Program (ErSE) and by KAUST Cultural Heritage.