The History of Paleontological Investigation in Western Abu Dhabi Emirate

The story of the discovery of late Miocene fossils within the Baynunah geological formation in Abu Dhabi’s western Al Dhafra region concerns a host of international paleontologists, many of whom have contributed to this volume, as well as the backing of their related scientific institutions. In particular, the first study of the Baynunah owes a lot to the late Peter Whybrow (1942-2004) and a co-editor of the present volume, the late Andrew Hill (1946-2015). The discovery of the majority of the important fossils described in this publication would have not happened without their personal contributions. From the early 1980s until today, the Abu Dhabi government has always been a supportive partner to this paleontological research and continues to document, research, and protect important fossil sites that are part of the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, as well as curate the important collection of fossil specimens resulting from this work. This present publication provides details of the latest comprehensive overview of the Baynunah fossils and updates the earlier volume, Fossil Vertebrates of Arabia (Whybrow and Hill, 1999). A large number of new fossil specimens were discovered during the newer field seasons of work carried out between 2003 and 2018. This has provided an opportunity to undertake major revisions and updates of some of the Baynunah fauna.