Jurassic Marks

For hundreds of years, the people of Madar thought giant camels were responsible for the enormous footprints found throughout their village. But a local journalist, suspecting something untoward about the peculiarly large prints, contacted scientists in Sana’a in 2003. Five years later, the tiny Yemeni village has become the setting of a major scientific discovery – the oversized prints were made by a herd of sauropods, the largest animal ever to walk on land. Scientists also discovered a separate track of prints made by an ornithopod, a huge two-legged dinosaur.

The footprints – the first sets found in the Arabian Peninsula – have put Madar on Yemen’s tourist map, with visitors making the scenic 30-mile journey from Sana’a to go walking with dinosaurs. Dr Mohammed Al-Wosabi of Sana’a University, a member of the international team of experts who studied the marks, believes the well-preserved tracks are at least 150 million years old. The tracks are now being looked after by the Yemen Geological Survey and are on display to tourists.