Dinosaur Species Discovered That Might Have Survived Mass Extinction
- 10 years ago
Discoveries of dinosaur fossils have recently increased, and a new species is being named more frequently than every two weeks. Archaeologists working in Argentina have discovered a species of dinosaur that some experts believe might have survived the mass extinction that killed off the other dinosaurs.
Discoveries of dinosaur fossils have recently increased, and a new species is being named every week or two.
Archaeologists working in Argentina have discovered a dinosaur that some experts believe might have survived the mass extinction that killed off the other dinosaurs.
The new species is a diplodocid, part of the giant sauropod family of dinosaurs, which are reportedly the largest animals ever known to live on land.
The remains of the dinosaur only consist of eight vertebrae, which were found at the Bajada Colorada rock formation located in western Argentina, in a layer of rock that dates to between 145 and 132 million years ago.
According to Philip Mannion, an expert on sauropods: “It is the first known diplodocid from South America, perhaps more closely related to African than North American and European diplodocids, and the first known diplodocid that survived into the Cretaceous.”
Although the fossils were found in a layer of dirt that is from the time known as the Cretaceous period, there were several extinction events during the time of the dinosaurs, and other experts are skeptical of the claims that the new species actually survived the mass extinction of other dinosaurs.
Discoveries of dinosaur fossils have recently increased, and a new species is being named every week or two.
Archaeologists working in Argentina have discovered a dinosaur that some experts believe might have survived the mass extinction that killed off the other dinosaurs.
The new species is a diplodocid, part of the giant sauropod family of dinosaurs, which are reportedly the largest animals ever known to live on land.
The remains of the dinosaur only consist of eight vertebrae, which were found at the Bajada Colorada rock formation located in western Argentina, in a layer of rock that dates to between 145 and 132 million years ago.
According to Philip Mannion, an expert on sauropods: “It is the first known diplodocid from South America, perhaps more closely related to African than North American and European diplodocids, and the first known diplodocid that survived into the Cretaceous.”
Although the fossils were found in a layer of dirt that is from the time known as the Cretaceous period, there were several extinction events during the time of the dinosaurs, and other experts are skeptical of the claims that the new species actually survived the mass extinction of other dinosaurs.