Photo of the Day 426

Petroglyphs, Aïr Mountains Mountains, Niger, 1999

Photograph by George Steinmetz

These 2,500-year-old petroglyphs, portraying figures with tulip-shaped heads and hourglass bodies, mark an ancient human presence in the Sahara desert’s Aïr Mountains. Despite the extreme temperatures and sparse rainfall characterizing these arid landscapes, more than one billion people eke out a living in desert regions today.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Journey to the Heart of the Sahara," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 62

Dinosaur Fossils, Niger, 1997

Photograph by George Steinmetz

In Niger's Ténéré desert, a ridge of protruding bones suggests a dramatically different past. Millions of years ago, the parched plains of the Ténéré were spread with thick forests and broad rivers home to crocodiles, turtles, fish, and dinosaurs, including Suchomimus tenerensis, a recently discovered crocodile-like creature.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Journey to the Heart of the Sahara," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)