Harrana (named after Qasr Kharana, an archeological Umayyad desert palace in the area) is part of the Jordan eastern plateau some 60 kilometers southeast of Amman city.[1][2]
Qasr Kharana
The area is largely uninhabited except for seasonal Bedouin sheep and camel herders who bring their livestock to the area during December through April.
Harrana's climate, much like most of Jordan, is influenced by the moderate Mediterranean climate from the west, the very hot Sahara's climate from the east, and the cold European climate from the north.
Though arid, the area is rich in animal life. Birds, owls, rodents, rabbits, foxes, occasional wolves and hyenas, snakes, and lizards are some of the animals that take refuge in Harrana. A variety of flowering plants bloom during late winter and early spring months, including mustard plants, oriental poppies, and wild irises. Cistanche tubulosa, or the desert broomrape, is another resident in Harrana blooming towards the end of spring and beginning of summer.
Harrana is significant for its fossil deposits preserved in gigantic limestone concretions that date back to the latest Maastrichtian some 66–67 million years ago, a period notably close to the end-Cretaceous extinction events when many groups of animals such as dinosaurs and as much as 65–70% of all marine animal species became extinct.[3] Mosasaur specimens along with their remarkably well preserved scale imprints have been discovered from late Maastrichtian deposits of the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana[4] The best preserved and complete specimens of the extinct teleostean fish genus Saurocephalus and the most complete mosasaur Carinodens remains come from the latest Maastrichtian of Harrana.[4]
^Nicolle, David (2008-06-17). Saracen Strongholds AD 630-1050: The Middle East and Central Asia. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781846031151.
^
*Al-Hunjul, Nasfat Gh. The Geology of Qasr Al Harrana: Map Sheet No. 3253-II. Jordan: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Natural Resources Authority, Geology Directorate, Geological Mapping Division, 2001. OCLC 51536994
^ abKaddumi, H.F. (2009). "On the latest scale coverings of mosasaurs (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Harrana Fauna in addition to the description of s new species of Mosasaurus". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum of Natural History. pp. 80–94.
Harrana (named after Qasr Kharana, an archeological Umayyad desert palace in the area) is part of the Jordan eastern plateau some 60 kilometers southeast...
Qasr Harrana (Arabic: قصر حرّانة), sometimes Qasr al-Kharana, Harana, Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Haranah, Haraneh, Khauranee, or Hraneh, is one of the best-known...
(Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) from the late Maastrichtian sediments of Harrana". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Eternal River Museum of Natural...
Harranasaurus (meaning "Harrana lizard") is an extinct genus of globidensin mosasaur from Jordan. The genus contains one known species, H. khuludae from...
(Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from Harrana with a description of a new genus and species of Polycotylidae". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas...
from late Maastrichtian deposits of the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana in Jordan, knowledge of the nature of mosasaur integument was mainly based...
the Maastrichtian Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of the Harrana Fauna". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum...
Maastrichtian sediments of the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum of...
(Ornithocheiroidea:Nyctosauridae) from the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana. In: Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Publications of the Eternal...
left dentary from the Maastrichtian-age Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana, Jordan. The specific name hudae honors Kaddumi's daughter Huda. The new...
Education, 17.3 (May/June 1997) pp 16–28. Kaddumi, H. F., 2009. Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the adjacent areas. Publications of the Eternal River Museum...
marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1):...
Saurocephalus) of Harrana with a description of a new species from the late Maastrichtian Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation. In: Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and...
the Maastrichtian Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of the Harrana Fauna". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum...
(Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) from the late Maastrichtian sediments of Harrana". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Eternal River Museum of Natural...
from the late Campanian-early Maastrichtian of Jordan". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum of Natural History...
marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1):...
remains have subsequently been found in the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana, Jordan. Marc Michaut described second species ‘S. indamanensis‘ from Mt...
(Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) from the late Maastrichtian sediments of Harrana". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Eternal River Museum of Natural...
marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1):...
western city of Ištanuwa. A temple of Iyarri existed in a city known as Ḫarrana or Ḫarranašši, as indicated by the document CTH 260, which states that...
the Maastrichtian Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of the Harrana Fauna". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Amman: Eternal River Museum...
marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1):...
skeleton yet with a description of a new species from the Harrana Fauna. In: Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Publications of the Eternal...
the region with the Aranē (Greek: 'Αράνη) of Ptolemy (V.6.18) and the Harrana of the Hittites. cf. Name of Iran Rapp 2017, p. 6. Giorgi L. Kavtaradze...
"Shark Ecomorphotypes". Elasmo Research. Kaddumi H. F. 2009. Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Publications of the Eternal River Museum...
Al-Kharanah Jordan Qasr Kharana (Arabic: قصر خرّانة), sometimes Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Kharanah, Kharaneh or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the...
marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna–Jordan" (PDF). Vertebrate Paleontology. 3 (1). Archived from the...
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