The Libyan desert was moist green 10 thousand years ago

Hicham boumejout

Environmentalists have long believed that the Sahara Desert, which includes parts of Libya and Algeria, was previously a green land, but a new study revealed that this area was about 10 thousand years ago a wet area and a hotbed for animals and fish of various types.

Excavation of fossils
Researchers from Germany and Belgium relied on this study, which was published on February 19 in the magazine "Plus One", on 17 thousand fossils were found in the period between 2003 and 2006 in a site covering an area of ​​about 145 square meters in the Tekkeri area southwest of Libya, i.e. Near the Algerian border.

Scientists were able to interrogate these fossils and extract their stories in the period dating back about 10200 years to 4,500 years ago, and it was a big surprise as they discovered that this area which is today a barren desert was yesterday a wet area and also had tributaries with the Nile River.

Researcher Wim Van Nair of the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences said in the commentary that accompanied the study, that the importance of this work lies in an approximate knowledge of how fertile and green areas and lands are transformed into arid regions, in anticipation of facing the climate changes, which we are experiencing today.

These fossils indicate that the area was full of animals of all types, some trees and plants of various species, and that there were groups of people inhabiting the area, which is confirmed by remnants of the wall paintings that the primitive man used to express what was inside or to draw his surroundings.

The species that inhabited the region
According to the study, 80% of these fossils belong to fish that lived between 10200 and 8,000 years, and 19% are fossils of mammals, while the rest are due to some species of birds, molluscs, and amphibians.

Among the most important fish whose remains have been found are cat fish and Nile tilapia relative to the Nile River. Among the amphibians, we find toad, crocodile, and turtle, and from mammals the rabbit, the rabbit, the Egyptian mole, the wild cat, the lynx, the sheep, the sheep, the gazelle, the unicorn and other mammals.

As for birds, scientists have found the remains of 21 species, such as ravens, which are not yet known as the cause of their extinction in the region. The falcon appears to be 10 of these species living near water bodies such as swans and cormorants.

A person responds to changes
Scientists have noted that the size of the fish has diminished and the number decreased by 40% between 5900 and 4650 years ago, compared to the increase in the number of mammals.

This prompted the person to change his food style. While he relied on eating fish in the first place, he became more dependent on wild hunting before turning to livestock.

Even his consumption of fish changed, as scientists found that a person at that time became more inclined to eat a type of fish that resembles cat fish that do not live in the depths of water where they prefer the surface, making it easy to catch.

Commenting on the study, Algerian climate change expert Kamel Jamaoui said in a telephone statement to Al-Jazeera Net that "such studies are valuable, exciting and necessary, because they contribute to understanding what happened on our planet and how green lands have turned into arid regions, which contributes to preparing to confront such phenomena in the long term." ".