Fossil Hunting in Saudi Arabia

As you can see from the pics above it was not hard to find fossils over there. Amonites and corals are everywhere but that enormous rock I’m kneeling in front of was the biggest thing I’ve ever found; some kind of plant life. But this thing stuck out of the ground just as you see it in the photo. Various types of coral fossils make up entire hillsides. It is amazing!

In all of my travels I have never encountered fossil beds as rich and abundant as those in Saudi Arabia.  There is no need to dig or even search very hard; artifacts of ancient animals litter the ground.  I have actually stumbled over remains of ancient coral.  Entire hillsides and cliffs there are composed of fossils.  The Riyadh Escarpment where I spent the bulk of my time is especially rich in pre-historic remains of sea life.  I’ve seen thousands of acres of the desert floor covered with fossils; these ancient coral beds must have been an astounding site!  The Arabian Peninsula was, obviously, at one time submerged beneath the sea.  As the land mass broke away from the African continent it rose above the water.  In the Riyadh area life fossils predominate, but elsewhere on the peninsula an array of fossils have been found that range from ancient mammals to early hominids. Go here for a lot more of Saudi Fossils.