Madar is a village about north of the Yemeni capital of
Sanaa
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...
. In 2003 a local journalist noted the existence of
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
footprints in
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
bedrock and brought them to the attention of geologists at the
University of Sanaa. The main site of the finds, located at , is approximately {{convert, 3, km, 0, abbr=on west off the main road, and has been signposted and fenced by the Yemen Geological Survey. Additional tracks have been recognized nearby, within the villages of Arhab and Bait al Washr. At the main site it was determined that there were tracks of eleven
sauropods and one
ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous wo ...
dating from 150 million years ago. Footprints of both juveniles and adults were found. The discovery is the first of dinosaur footprints in the
Arabian Peninsula, and only a very few fossils have been previously identified in the peninsula. The discovery has since been signposted for tourists, and efforts are underway to list the site with
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. From here,
Radhanite traders migrated to various parts of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
whose descendants (converted to Islam) are recognised today under the family name of ''Madar''.
External links
BBC article about the siteScientific report of the findings
Populated places in Yemen