September 13, 2008
million year old camel jaw
Paleontologists unearthed the jaw bone of a tiny previously unknown million year old camel.
The jawbone was found last month near the village of Khowm in the Palmyra region, about 150 miles northeast of Damascus, said Heba al-Sakhel, the head of the Syrian National Museum who was one of the leaders of the team of Syrian and Swiss researchers.
Last year, the team discovered the bones of a giant camel in Syria dating back 100,000 years. That animal stood between 10 and 13 feet tall — about twice the size of latter-day camels and the height at the shoulder of many African elephants.
The new find, along with the remains of the giant camel, could offer important clues about the animal’s evolution, the researchers said.
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That little camel’s the one that went through the eye of the needle. Lots of stuff can be true if you have a million years to work with.