Yemen embraces its Jurassic past (BBC) {dino tracks} [View All]

[eppur_se_muova]

By Stephanie Hancock
BBC News, Madar village, Yemen

The village of Madar is perhaps an unlikely setting for a major scientific discovery that has been hailed as a 'new frontier' for the Middle East.

Tucked away in the heart of rural Yemen, Madar now finds itself in the limelight after a series of dinosaur prints were discovered in the village - the first such discovery on the Arabian Peninsula.

The dinosaur tracks have been lying exposed, above ground, for centuries, but scientists only recently stumbled across them following a tip-off from a local journalist.

Villagers have lived alongside the now famous footprints for generations, but never had any inkling about how important they would turn out to be.

"Before these tracks were named, we believed they were footprints from giant camels," said Yahir Saleh Arshami, who has dinosaur tracks running right in front of his house.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7517307.stm

Notice the guy built his house around the tracks, so as not to disturb them, even though he didn't know what they are. Obviously not a real estate developer! They'll bulldoze the middle out of an Indian mound to put in a strip mall or golf green, and you can't get City Hall to stop them.