This isolated tooth evidences the first identifiable carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Arabian Peninsula. Photo: Maxim Leonov, Palaeontological Institute, MoscowDinosaurs have been identified in Saudi Arabia for the first time, highlighting how widespread the creatures once were.
Scientists unearthed tail bones from a giant plant-eating titanosaur together with teeth from a 20-foot-long predator, thought to be a distant relative of Tyrannosaurus rex.
The 72 million-year-old fossils were discovered in the northwest of the kingdom along the Red Sea coast.
When the dinosaurs were alive, the Arabian landmass was largely under water and formed the northern coastal edge of the African continent.
This discovery is important not only because of where the remains were found, but also because of the fact that we can actually identify them
Benjamin Kear, from Uppsala University in Sweden, who led a team of scientists studying the remains, said: “Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula, with only a handful of highly fragmented bones documented this far.
“This discovery is important not only because of where the remains were found, but also because of the fact that we can actually identify them.
“Indeed, these are the first taxonomically recognisable dinosaurs reported from the Arabian Peninsula.”
The titanosaur identified by the researchers was a lumbering giant with a long neck and tail that stood on four legs.
In contrast, the meat-eating abelisaurid whose teeth were recovered was a fast-moving, bipedal theropod.
Similar dinosaurs have been found in North Africa, Madagascar and South America.
Another member of the team, Tom Rich from Museum Victoria in Australia, said: “Dinosaur remains from the ArabianPeninsula and the area east of the Mediterranean Sea are exceedingly rare because sedimentary rocks deposited in streams and rivers during the Age of Dinosaurs are rare, particularly in Saudi Arabia itself.”
The finds are described in the online journal Public Library of Science One.