Giant camel fossil found in Syria

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by S.A.M., Oct 10, 2006.

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  1. S.A.M.

    S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Archaeologists have discovered the 100,000-year-old fossilised remains of a previously unknown giant camel species in Syria.

    The bones of the dromedary were unearthed by a Swiss-Syrian team of researchers near the village of El Kowm in the central part of the country.

    The animal is thought to have been double the size of a modern-day camel.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6035113.stm

    "The camel's shoulders stood three metres high and it was around four metres tall, as big as a giraffe or an elephant. Nobody knew that such a species had existed," he said.

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    Leg bone from a giant camel (l) compared with a modern one

    Human remains dating to the same period as the giant camel have also been discovered at the site. The radius (forearm) and tooth have been taken to Switzerland, where they are undergoing anthropological analysis.

    "The bone is that of a Homo sapiens, or modern man, but the tooth is extremely archaic, similar to that of a Neanderthal. We don't know yet what it is exactly. Do we have a very old Homo sapiens or a Neanderthal?" said Dr Tensorer.

    "We expect to find more bones that would help determine what kind of man it was."
     
    S.A.M., Oct 10, 2006
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  3. Baron Max

    Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    Whoopee! Now there will be instant peace on Earth and goodwill towards all mankind!

    Baron Max
     
    Baron Max, Oct 10, 2006
    #2

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  5. Vega

    Vega Banned Banned

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    That camel was overweight!

    But seriously!, fossils of birds and other mammals have been found on remote Pacific islands off the New Zealand coast revealing new species nobody ever knew about.

    A new species of dinosaur was discovered by Indian and American scientists a few years ago: a 30-foot (9-meter), horned carnivore that hunted other dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

    This camel would have been wild and probably hunted by other animals given that the region at that time would have had more vegetation and variable climate.
     
    Vega, Oct 10, 2006
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  7. Fraggle Rocker

    Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    It's unusual for an animal to reach that size in warm climates. Thermodynamics selects against it: the ratio of surface area to volume makes it difficult to stay cool. Really huge tropical and subtropical animals tend to regulate their body temperatures by being aquatic like the hippopotamus or evolving a unique way of watering themselves down like the elephant. The woolly mammoth, the woolly rhino, the cave bear... most of the extinct megafauna of the mammalian era lived in the expanded arctic zones of the ice age where conserving body heat was a survival advantage.

    I suppose being twice the size of a modern camel only makes it about as massive as a modern rhinoceros, a non-aquatic species that lives comfortably in the tropics. Still it will be interesting to discover more about the ecosystem in which this camel participated.
     
    Fraggle Rocker, Oct 10, 2006
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  8. spidergoat

    spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Syria was not always so desert-like. Besides, what about elephants? Or dinosaurs? Perhaps this fellow was cold-blooded.
     
    spidergoat, Oct 10, 2006
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  9. Roman

    Roman Banned Banned

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    Let's clone it!
     
    Roman, Oct 10, 2006
    #6
  10. Fraggle Rocker

    Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    100,000 years ago the world may have been a few degrees cooler and Syria may not have been a desert, but the world's axis was pretty much in the same place it is today, so Syria was not an arctic or subarctic region where you would expect megafauna to thrive. As I said, elephants have evolved a way to water themselves down with their trunks. They do that frequently. Dinosaurs were reptiles, cold-blooded animals whose metabolism does not generate body heat.
     
    Fraggle Rocker, Oct 10, 2006
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  11. spidergoat

    spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    spidergoat, Oct 11, 2006
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  12. Roman

    Roman Banned Banned

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    Dinosaurs weren't reptiles as we know them. They were dinosaurs. They may share phylogenetic similarities with today's reptiles (like the crocodiles) but the reptiles of today aren't representative of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are in the reptile class, sauropsida, but they are distinct from snakes and lizards.

    It is most likely they were warm blooded, as their descendents, the avians, are.

    Here's a link from wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#Warm-bloodedness
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2006
    Roman, Oct 11, 2006
    #9
  13. STREET COMMANDER

    STREET COMMANDER Registered Member

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    Perhaps this is what the Nephilim of the ancient times used to ride around on.
     
    STREET COMMANDER, Apr 19, 2010
    #10
  14. Medicine*Woman

    Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

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    M*W: My grandkids had their picture taken on that camel. They thought it was the biggest camel that ever existed. Good lord I'm dating myself.
     
    Medicine*Woman, Apr 19, 2010
    #11
  15. Medicine*Woman

    Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

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    M*W: I sure wish I could meet a man with a giant fossil. I can tell you about a funny story about the smallest.
     
    Medicine*Woman, Apr 19, 2010
    #12
  16. Crunchy Cat

    Crunchy Cat F-in' *meow* baby!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Good lord, that's one big ass camel!
     
    Crunchy Cat, Apr 27, 2010
    #13
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