A rare collection of ammonites and other ancient fossils, some of them 450 million years old, was unveiled at the UAE’s Majlis Gallery on Monday. The fossils were discovered at various locations in Morocco, Madagascar, Germany, England, the US and China, The Gulf News reported Wednesday.
More than 800 fossils, including ammonites, mammoth teeth, shark teeth, fossil fish, fossilised wood and leaves, ichthyosaurs and various specimens from the Jurassic period are on display at the two-week exhibition, the daily said.
According to Majlis Gallery officials, it is the largest collection of fossils ever exhibited in the Gulf.
Spokeswoman Susan Wilde was quoted by the daily as saying "it is the first of its kind in the Middle East and we are proud to have this show in Dubai."
Wilde said, "One of the rarest collections we have here dates back 380 million years and is priced at Dh165,000." Paleontologist Dale Rogers said, "This is the finest collection of fossils, ammonites, fossilised wood, leaves and minerals to be put on display in this region."
London-based Rogers, who has been hunting fossils for 14 years, owns Ammonites, a company he set up in London's Notting Hill district, to source fossils, it added.
He has brought some of the most precious fossils and minerals from the 1,500 items in his company's possession. Rogers said the collections in the exhibition span 450 million years – Albawaba.com
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