 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Calgary, Alberta (UPI) Jan 27, 2011 Canadian researchers say a fossil found in New Mexico contradicts a long-held belief that dinosaurs went extinct abruptly 65.5 million to 66 million years ago. University of Alberta scientists determined an unearthed femur bone of a hadrosaur is only 64.8 million years old, indicating the plant-eating dinosaur was alive at least 700,000 years after the mass extinction event many paleontologists have said wiped all non-avian dinosaurs off the face of earth forever, a university release reported Thursday. It's long been accepted a mass extinction of the dinosaurs happened between 65.5 million and 66 million years ago, most likely when a giant meteorite impact threw material into the atmosphere that blocked out the sun, causing extreme climate conditions and killing vegetation worldwide. UA professor Larry Hearman says there could be several reasons why the New Mexico hadrosaur line of dinosaurs survived the mass extinction event. It's possible that in some areas the vegetation wasn't wiped out and a number of the hadrosaur species survived, Hearman says, and not enough is known about the potential survival of dinosaur eggs during extreme climatic conditions. Hearman says if more fossil samples provide the same dating results then the extinction paradigm and the end of the dinosaurs may have to be revised.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com
The First Single-Fingered DinosaurLondon UK (SPX) Jan 27, 2011 A new species of parrot-sized dinosaur, the first discovered with only one finger, has been unearthed in Inner Mongolia, China. Scientists named the new dinosaur Linhenykus monodactylus, after the nearby city of Linhe. The work is published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The new dinosaur belongs to the Alvarezsauroidea, a branch of the carnivorous dinosau ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
