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Harrana
Harrana (named after Qasr Kharana, an archeological Umayyad desert palace in the area) is part of the Jordan eastern plateau some 60 kilometers southeast of Amman city. *Al-Hunjul, Nasfat Gh. The Geology of Qasr Al Harrana: Map Sheet No. 3253-II. Jordan: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Natural Resources Authority, Geology Directorate, Geological Mapping Division, 2001. OCLC 51536994 The area is largely uninhabited except for seasonal Bedouin sheep and camel herders who bring their livestock to the area during December through April. Harrana's climate, much like most of Jordan, is influenced by the moderate Mediterranean climate from the west, the very hot Sahara's climate from the east, and the cold European climate from the north. Though arid, the area is rich in animal life. Birds, owls, rodents, rabbits, foxes, occasional wolves and hyenas, snakes, and lizards are some of the animals that take refuge in Harrana. A variety of flowering plants bloom during late winter and early sp ...
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Mosasaur
Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes. Mosasaurs probably evolved from an extinct group of aquatic lizards known as aigialosaurs in the Earliest Late Cretaceous with 42 described genera. During the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous period (Turonian–Maastrichtian ages), with the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs, mosasaurs became the dominant marine predators. They themselves became extinct as a result of the K-Pg event at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Description Mosasaurs breathed air, were powerful swimmers, and were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow inland seas prevalent during the Late Cretaceous period. Mosasaurs were so ...
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Qasr Kharana
Qasr Kharana ( ar, قصر خرّانة), sometimes Qasr al-Kharana, Kharana, Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Kharanah, Kharaneh, Khauranee, or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan, about east of Amman and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia. It is uncertain when the palace was constructed, but it likely orginiates from the Umayyad Dynasty. An inscription on an upper wall dates the building to before 710 CE. A Greek or Byzantine house may have existed on the site. The purpose of the building is a subject of debate among scholars. Theories as to the qasr's purpose include a Crusader's castle, a military stronghold, agricultural outpost, and resting place for caravan travelers. The current scholarly consensus is that the building was used as for meeting between local Bedouin leaders. Description The qasr is a nearly square building, on each side, with three-quarter-round buttresses at the corners, a projecting rounded e ...
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Saurocephalus
''Saurocephalus'' (from el, σαῦρος , 'lizard' and el, κεφαλή 'head') is an extinct genus of ray-finned fishes within the family Saurodontidae.Maisey, J. G.1991. ''Santana Fossils, an Illustrated Atlas''. New Jersey, T.F.H. Publications Inc., 190–207. The genus was first described in 1824 and contains six or seven species, including the type species ''S. lanciformis''.Harlan, R. 1824. On a new fossil genus of the order Enalio Sauri, (of Conybeare). ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia''. Series 1, 3(pt. 2): 331-337. ''Saurocephalus'' first appeared during the early Valanginian and continued on to the Maastrichtian, when it went extinct.Kaddumi, H. F. 2009. Saurodontids (Ichthyodectiformes: Saurocephalus) of Harrana with a description of a new species from the late Maastrichtian Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation. In: Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. ''Publications of the Eternal River Museum of Natural History'', Amman, p ...
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Cistanche Tubulosa
''Cistanche tubulosa'' is a desert holoparasitic plant species in the genus ''Cistanche''. It lacks chlorophyll and obtains nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots it parasitizes. Uses The plant is grown in the Taklamakan Desert, and is traditionally used for medicines and foods in China. The main sources of the Chinese herbal medicine cistanche (Chinese: 肉苁蓉, pinyin ròucongróng) are ''Cistanche salsa'' and ''Cistanche deserticola ''Cistanche deserticola'' is a holoparasitic member of the plant family Orobanchaceae, commonly known as desert-broomrape. The plant lacks chlorophyll and obtains its nutrients and water in a parasitic fashion from the black saxaul (''Haloxylon ...'', although it may also be obtained from ''C. tubulosa''. The drug, known in Chinese as ''suosuo dayun'', is collected in spring before sprouting, by slicing the stems of the plant. References External links * * Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Orobanchaceae Par ...
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Archaeological Sites In Jordan
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the adve ...
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Teleostean
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines (rays), as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize the class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish). These actinopterygian fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements, the radials, which represent the link or connection between these fins and the internal skeleton (e.g., pelvic and pectoral girdles). By species count, actinopterygians dominate the vertebrates, and they constitute nearly 99% of the over 30,000 species of fish. They are ubiquitous throughout freshwater and marine environments from the deep sea to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from ''Paedocypris'', at , to the massive ocean sunfish, at , and the long-bodied oarfish, at . The vast majority of Actinopte ...
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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 the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ...
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Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from . The Maastrichtian was preceded by the Campanian and succeeded by the Danian (part of the Paleogene and Paleocene). The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (formerly known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event) occurred at the end of this age. In this mass extinction, many commonly recognized groups such as non-avian dinosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, as well as many other lesser-known groups, died out. The cause of the extinction is most commonly linked to an asteroid about wide colliding with Earth, ending the Cretaceous. Stratigraphic definitions Definition The Maastrichtian was introduced into scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Hubert Dumont in 1849, after studying rock strata of the Chalk Group c ...
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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 when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, . ''Magnesian limestone'' is an obsolete and poorly-defined term used variously for dolomite, for limes ...
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Fossil Bed
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ...
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