We would like to thank P.J. Whybrow and A. Hill for their support. Peter Whybrow passed away recently after a career of singular and unmatched contribution to the discovery and exposition of the paleontology of Arabia. We would like to acknowledge the Abu Dhabi Works Department and the Office of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan for financially supporting the survey work in the UAE. Further financial support to F.B. also came from the Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative (RHOI–NSF). The Human Evolution Research Center (U.C. Berkeley) provided laboratory facilities, particularly for the acquisition of remote sensing imagery used on the survey. S. Minter participated in and contributed greatly to field work in the UAE. Invaluable logistical support in the UAE was provided by Hamdan Mohairbi. Thanks to G. Bibi for assistance with the Arabic abstract. Additional thanks to G. Grellet-Tinner, A. Hill, E. Vrba, and K. Smith for discussions and critical comments. We also thank the journal editors and anonymous reviewers.