Mecca - Paleontology

Paleontology

In 2010, the Mecca area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a Saadanius fossil. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28m and 29m years ago.

Paleontologists involved in the research hope to find further fossils in the area.