First Triassic lungfish from the Arabian Peninsula

Triassic lungfish (Dipnoi) have been extensively documented from the Gondwanan continental and marine shelf deposits of Africa and Madagascar (Teixeira, 1949; Lehman et al., 1959; Beltan, 1968; Martin, 1979, 1981; Kemp 1996), Australia (Kemp, 1993, 1994, 1997a, 1998), India (Jain et al, 1964; Jain, 1968), and Antarctica (Dziewa, 1980). Numerous records also exist from Laurasian landmasses including Europe (Agassiz, 1838; Schultze, 1981), North America (Case, 1921) and central and eastern Asia (Liu and Yeh, 1957; Vorobyeva, 1967; Martin and Ingavat, 1982). By comparison, nothing is known of contemporary lungfish fossils from the Middle East. Thus, the recent recovery of a single tooth plate representing a new geographic occurrence of the genus Ceratodus Agassiz, 1838 from paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation, a latest Anisian to lower Carnian unit that crops out along the eastern margin of the Proterozoic Arabian Shield in central Saudi Arabia (Fig. 1), is significant because it provides the stratigraphically oldest record of dipnoans from the Arabian Peninsula.

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A conspectus of the silver-flies (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae) of the Middle East with descriptions of new species of Chamaemyia Meigen and Melanochthiphila Frey, from the Arabian Peninsula

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4319.3.3 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4319 (3) ◽

pp. 461 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M.J. EBEJER

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

New Species ◽

Middle East ◽

Species Distribution ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

New Records ◽

Tabulated Data

An overview of the Chamaemyiidae of the Middle East is given with species distribution within the Arabian Peninsula. For countries bordering Saudi Arabia, the distribution is tabulated. Data on new records for species of Chamaemyiidae from countries within the Arabian Peninsula are included. Descriptions and illustrations are provided for Chamaemyia aurilinea sp. n., C. grisea sp. n., C. xanthopoda sp. n. and Melanochthiphila arabica sp. n. from Saudi Arabia.

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ALEXEI VASSILIEV, The History of Saudi Arabia (London: Saqi Press, 1998). Pp. 482. $69.95 cloth.

International Journal of Middle East Studies ◽

10.1017/s0020743800002270 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 190-192

Author(s):

Hala Fattah

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Middle East ◽

English Language ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

African Studies ◽

Advisory Group ◽

Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽

History Of ◽

Central Eastern ◽

Attention To Detail

This is the most complete and perhaps the best treatment of the origins and development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia yet to appear in the English language. No serious library can afford to pass it up. The author is a Russian scholar who was Middle East correspondent for Pravda for many years, as well as the director of the Institute for African Studies and member of the Russian Foreign Ministry's advisory group. His knowledge of languages is used to great advantage in the book, and his bibliography of Arabic, Turkish, Russian, English, and French works is an impressive contribution to the history of the Arabian Peninsula. Rare indeed is the scholor who has read, let alone been able to retrieve, the number of valuable local histories that Vassiliev has used for the book. Despite its overwhelming attention to detail, his history is written in a fluid and accessible style, holding the reader's attention till the last. The narrative never flags, even when the author reconstructs the minutiae of the almost daily battles between the armies of central, eastern, and western Arabia in great and absorbing detail. In fact, some sections make for riveting reading, especially those in the latter part of the book, when Ibn Saud faces off against the Ikhwan or browbeats both the internal and external opposition to create his own imprint on the Arabian Peninsula.

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A review of aquatic vertebrate remains from the Middle–Upper Triassic Jilh Formation of Saudi Arabia

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria ◽

10.1071/rs10001 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 122 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Benjamin P. Kear ◽

Thomas H. Rich ◽

Patricia Vickers-Rich ◽

Mohammed A. Ali ◽

Yahya A. Al-Mufarrih ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Field Survey ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

Upper Triassic ◽

Marine Deposits ◽

Marine Reptiles ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Aquatic Vertebrate ◽

Faunal List

A recent field survey of the Middle–Upper Triassic (upper Anisian to lowermost Carnian) paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation in central Saudi Arabia has yielded large quantities of vertebrate fossils. These finds prompt a revision of the existing faunal list and include at least one novel stratigraphical occurrence for the Arabian Peninsula. The remains comprise sauropterygian marine reptiles (Psephosauriscus sp., Nothosaurus cf. tchernovi, Nothosaurus cf. giganteus, Simosaurus sp.), a lungfish (Ceratodus sp.), hybodontiform sharks (Hybodus sp.) and saurichthyform actinopterygians (Saurichthys sp.). Palaeobiogeographical assessment reinforces Tethyan affinities for the assemblage and reflects the close proximity of the Arabian region to the ‘Sephardic Realm’, a compositionally distinct circum-Mediterranean faunal province characterized by hypersaline Muschelkalk facies.

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Three species of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato infect camels on the Arabian Peninsula

Parasitology Research ◽

10.1007/s00436-021-07156-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Fahad A. Al-Hizab ◽

Nouh S. Mohamed ◽

Marion Wassermann ◽

Mahmoud A. Hamouda ◽

Abdelazim M. Ibrahim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Middle East ◽

Haplotype Analysis ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

Active Role ◽

Sensu Stricto ◽

Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽

Eastern Province ◽

Echinococcus Granulosus Sensu Lato

AbstractWe report on the genetic identity of 36 Echinococcus cysts that were collected during a recent slaughterhouse survey of 810 locally bred camels (dromedaries) in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Analysis of a partial nad1 gene sequence showed that the majority (n = 29) belonged to E. granulosus sensu stricto, four to E. canadensis G6/7, and three to E. ortleppi. Eight of the 29 E. granulosus s.s. cysts contained protoscoleces; all other cysts were calcified and non-viable. This is the first report of the presence E. ortleppi from the Arabian Peninsula, a parasite that is typically transmitted via cattle. The results indicate widespread infection of camels with CE in eastern Saudi Arabia and an active role of camels in the lifecycles of at least E. granulosus s.s.. Complete cox1 haplotype analysis of 21 E. granulosus s.s. isolates shows that the majority of variants circulating in eastern Saudi Arabia is distinct from but closely related to haplotypes from neighboring countries in the Middle East, which indicates the presence of this parasite in KSA for a longer period of time. All isolates of E. granulosus s.s. in this study belonged to the G1 cluster, although the G3 genotype has previously also been reported from the Middle East.

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The Reluctant Hijaz

The Hijaz ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190909727.003.0010 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 339-374

Author(s):

Malik R. Dahlan

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Middle East ◽

Public Good ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

International System ◽

Potential Solution ◽

Positive Space

Chapter 9 recaptures key elements and Islamic legitimate policy principles of public good to create the positive space for Islam in The Hijaz. It makes a case for integration in The Hijaz in order to create an international system for the resolution of disputes in the Region. Given its history and centrality to Islam, The Hijaz offers integrative value for Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula and the international Islamic community as a whole. This value presents a potential solution to the crisis in the Middle East, a regional solution which, vitally, is rooted in Islamic doctrine and does not necessitate Western imperial influence.

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Temporal dynamics of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in the Arabian Peninsula, 2012–2017

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268818002728 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 147 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. A. Alkhamis ◽

A. Fernández-Fontelo ◽

K. VanderWaal ◽

S. Abuhadida ◽

P. Puig ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Middle East ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Arima Model ◽

Case Series ◽

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Reproductive Number ◽

Human Populations ◽

Eastern Province

AbstractMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) remains a notable disease and poses a significant threat to global public health. The Arabian Peninsula is considered a major global epicentre for the disease and the virus has crossed regional and continental boundaries since 2012. In this study, we focused on exploring the temporal dynamics of MERS-CoV in human populations in the Arabian Peninsula between 2012 and 2017, using publicly available data on case counts and combining two analytical methods. Disease progression was assessed by quantifying the time-dependent reproductive number (TD-Rs), while case series temporal pattern was modelled using the AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA). We accounted for geographical variability between three major affected regions in Saudi Arabia including Eastern Province, Riyadh and Makkah. In Saudi Arabia, the epidemic size was large with TD-Rs >1, indicating significant spread until 2017. In both Makkah and Riyadh regions, the epidemic progression reached its peak in April 2014 (TD-Rs > 7), during the highest incidence period of MERS-CoV cases. In Eastern Province, one unique super-spreading event (TD-R > 10) was identified in May 2013, which comprised of the most notable cases of human-to-human transmission. Best-fitting ARIMA model inferred statistically significant biannual seasonality in Riyadh region, a region characterised by heavy seasonal camel-related activities. However, no statistical evidence of seasonality was identified in Eastern Province and Makkah. Instead, both areas were marked by an endemic pattern of cases with sporadic outbreaks. Our study suggested new insights into the epidemiology of the virus, including inferences about epidemic progression and evidence for seasonality. Despite the inherent limitations of the available data, our conclusions provide further guidance to currently implement risk-based surveillance in high-risk populations and, subsequently, improve related interventions strategies against the epidemic at country and regional levels.

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Functional comparison of MERS-coronavirus lineages reveals increased zoonotic potential of the recombinant lineage 5

10.21203/rs.3.rs-38496/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Simon Schroeder ◽

Christin Mache ◽

Hannah Kleine-Weber ◽

Doreen Muth ◽

Victor Corman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Middle East ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Severe Pneumonia ◽

Live Virus ◽

Knock Out ◽

Phenotypic Changes

Abstract Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) can cause severe pneumonia in humans. The virus is enzootic in dromedary camels across the Middle East and Africa. It is acquired through animal contact and undergoes limited onward transmission particularly in hospitals. Because of this initial potential for human-to-human transmission, we monitor the virus for phenotypic changes related to its pandemic potential. Potential phenotypic changes have been suspected since the year 2015, when a novel recombinant clade (MERS-CoV lineage 5) caused large nosocomial outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and South Korea that effectively swept other, hitherto co-circulating viral lineages. To this day, lineage 5 remains the only circulating MERS-CoV lineage on the Arabian Peninsula. In spite of available sequence data, no studies of viral phenotype have been carried out to date. Here we performed a comprehensive in-vitro and ex-vivo comparison of live virus isolates taken in Saudi Arabia immediately before and after the shift toward lineage 5. We characterized seven isolates representing the recombination-parental lineage 3, eight isolates representing parental lineage 4, as well as eight isolates representing lineage 5. Replication of lineage 5 viruses is significantly increased over isolates from parental lineages in cell culture and ex-vivo lung models. Transcriptional profiling by real-time RT-PCR shows that several key immune genes (IFNb1, CCL5, IFNL1) are significantly less induced in lung cells infected with lineage 5 MERS-CoV compared to parental strains. In IFN receptor knock out cells, as well as under chemical inhibition of IFN signalling, the differences in replication level between lineage 5 and parental lineages are reduced, suggesting that phenotypic differences may be determined by IFN antagonism. Concordantly, lineage 5 shows increased resilience against interferon (IFN) pre-treatment of Calu-3 cells and maintains a 10-fold higher replication level under low and high concentrations of IFN. Reduced immune activation combined with enhanced virus replication and IFN resilience may explain the dominance of lineage 5 on the Arabian Peninsula. This phenotypic difference is highly relevant with regard to pandemic potential, and has remained undiscovered in spite of viral sequence surveillance.

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