Over the past decade, a growing interest has developed on the archaeology, palaeontology, and palaeoenvironments of the Arabian Peninsula. It is now clear that hominins repeatedly dispersed into Arabia, notably during pluvial interglacial periods when much of the peninsula was characterised by a semiarid grassland environment. During the intervening glacial phases, however, grasslands were replaced with arid and hyperarid deserts. These millennial-scale climatic fluctuations have subjected bones and fossils to a dramatic suite of environmental conditions, affecting their fossilisation and preservation. Yet, as relatively few palaeontological assemblages have been reported from the Pleistocene of Arabia, our understanding of the preservational pathways that skeletal elements can take in these types of environments is lacking. Here, we report the first widespread taxonomic and taphonomic assessment of Arabian fossil deposits. Novel fossil fauna are described and overall the fauna are consistent with a well-watered semiarid grassland environment. Likewise, the taphonomic results suggest that bones were deposited under more humid conditions than present in the region today. However, fossils often exhibit significant attrition, obscuring and fragmenting most finds. These are likely tied to wind abrasion, insolation, and salt weathering following fossilisation and exhumation, processes particularly prevalent in desert environments.

在过去的十年中，人们对阿拉伯半岛的考古学，古生物学和古环境越来越感兴趣。现在很清楚，人种素反复地散布到阿拉伯，特别是在半干旱的冰川间期，当时该半岛的大部分地区以半干旱的草地环境为特征。然而，在中间的冰川期，草原被干旱和高干旱的沙漠所取代。这些千禧年规模的气候波动使骨骼和化石遭受了一系列剧烈的环境条件的影响，从而影响了它们的化石和保存。然而，由于从阿拉伯更新世报道的古生物学组合相对较少，因此我们对骨骼元素在这些类型的环境中可以采取的保存途径缺乏了解。这里，我们报告了阿拉伯化石矿床的首次广泛的分类学和分类学评估。描述了新颖的化石动物区系，总体上该动物区系与水润的半干旱草原环境一致。同样，透声结果表明，骨骼沉积的条件比今天的区域潮湿得多。但是，化石通常会表现出显着的磨损，使大部分发现物变得模糊不清和碎片化。这些可能与化石和掘尸后的风蚀，日晒和盐分风化有关，这一过程在沙漠环境中尤其普遍。最终的结果表明，骨骼的沉积条件比今天的区域潮湿得多。但是，化石通常会表现出显着的磨损，使大部分发现物变得模糊不清和碎片化。这些可能与化石和掘尸后的风蚀，日晒和盐分风化有关，这一过程在沙漠环境中尤为普遍。最终的结果表明，骨骼的沉积条件比今天的区域潮湿得多。但是，化石通常会表现出显着的磨损，使大部分发现物变得模糊不清和碎片化。这些可能与化石和掘尸后的风蚀，日晒和盐分风化有关，这一过程在沙漠环境中尤为普遍。