Shuwaihat (Shouwihat, Shouwehat or Shuwayhat)

There are two routes to Shuwaihat island. The first, after leaving the main As Sila to Abu Dhabi road at the signpost to "Jazirat Shuwayhat", is across sabkha that might be flooded. The second, mostly on tarmac, is via a road that leads to the General Military Headquarters for the Western Region at Hamra. Both routes pass by a military airstrip that leads to a causeway built in the ?1950s to transport oil drilling equipment to Shuwaihat. There is a capped-off dry well (Site S5) on the island.

The island exposes the type section of the Shuwaihat Formation, about 13Ma, (Whybrow et al., 1999; Bristow, 1999) and the majority of Miocene vertebrate fossils from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi have been collected from Baynunah Formation, 6-8Ma, sites at this locality.

Eastern Baynunah Formation jebels at Shuwaihat viewed from the top of the S1 site.		Aeolian dunes of the Shuwaihat Formation.

Site S1 ( N 24 06' 38.1" E 52 26' 09.6")

lies on the western face of the island's easternmost jebel. This site was one of the two rodent sampling sites on Shuwaihat (de Bruijn, 1999; de Bruijn and Whybrow, 1994), it is also where a partial crocodile skull was found (Rauhe et al., 1999). Prior to 1991 we were able to easily examine the eastern part of this jebel but a military communications area has now been erected and is surrounded by a fence.

Crocodylus sp. indet. as found.(Rauhe et al., 1999)		Andrew Hill searches for Baynunah Formation microvertebrates		?Ikanogavialis. (Rauhe et al., 1999)

Site S2 (N 24 06' 41.7" E 52 26' 04.0")

is the northwestern jebel where much plant material was found

Site S3 (N 24 06' 03.5" E 52 26' 19.0")

A UAE survey point (GHQ 4143, height mapped at 47 metres) exists on southern top of the westernmost jebel (known locally as Jebel Mershed). Near to this survey point at site S3 numerous Miocene bivalves were found (Jeffery, 1999).

Site S4

Surrounding the excavation of Site S6, lies the type locality (S4) for Bagrus shuwaiensis Forey and Young, 1999. About 20 metres to its northwest (still within site S4) is the second rodent sampling area, the type locality of Abudhabia baynunensis de Bruijn and Whybrow, 1994.

Site S5 (N 24 07' 06.6" E 52 26' 32.7").

The capped-off well labelled SH-4. This site used as a GPS station.

Site S6 (N 24 06' 44.7" E 52 26' 12.7")

is marked by a concrete Natural History Museum permanent datum (marked BM(NH) 1992) that marks the southern edge of a major excavation for a proboscidean (Andrews, 1999; Tassy, 1999). Little sign of this excavation could be seen in 2001 as windblown sand had filled the depression.

1990. Andrew Hill discovers surface scatter of Stegotetrabelodon syrticus (Tassy, 1999)	January 1992. Gill Comerford excavates jaw and partial skull of Stegotetrabelodon syrticus (Tassy, 1999)
April 1992. NHM team develop the excavation.	April 1992. Miranda Armour-Chelu excavates the right femur of Stegotetrabelodon syrticus (Tassy, 1999)