TITANOSAURUS: THE FIRST DINOSAUR IN ECUADOR

 

Written by: Stefano Egas 

Various types of dinosaurs have been found in several Latin American countries, among the main countries are Argentina and Brazil. On the other hand, we have Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia with dinosaur remains in the form of thousands of fossil footprints and sometimes in the form of skeletons or isolated bones. However, Ecuador did not have any discoveries. 

Until one day a group led by palaeontologists Sebastián Apesteguía and Pablo Gallina -researchers from the Azara Foundation, together with scientists from the Department of Geology and Mines and Civil Engineering of the Private Technical University of Loja (Ecuador) discovered a great find. 👀

Analysis of the remains revealed that they were the remains of sauropod dinosaurs, the long-necked herbivores of the titanosaur group, the most abundant in the southern hemisphere. All of these dinosaurs lived between 85 and 65 million years ago and are considered the last sauropods to appear, almost on the verge of extinction of the group. 😲

The material studied consists of remains of a disarticulated and incomplete skeleton. two vertebrae of the sacrum, one of the tail and the remains of the humerus, radius and tibia.  

SCIENTISTS FOUND A DINOSAUR EGG IN CHINA

 

Written by: Stefano Egas 

A group of Chinese scientists published an article in the journal Science about a fossilized dinosaur egg found in Jiangxi that contains a 27-centimetre embryo. According to specialists, the 17-centimetre-long egg is around 70 million years old and contains one of the best-preserved dinosaur embryo fossils. 👀

It is possible that the embryo was about 17 days old and its egg would have hatched at 21 days. The species is known as an oviraptorosaur, a type of theropod dinosaur with hollow bones and three-toed limbs, these birds evolved into modern birds.

This team of scientists has spent three years studying the dinosaur's egg and the researchers will continue the analysis with X-ray techniques to learn more about the anatomy of the embryo and other parts of its body. 😲

THE LARGEST FOSSILIZED MILLIPEDE

 

Written by: Stefano Egas 

This fossil is the third of its kind, but it is also the largest and oldest. These are the remains of a creature called Arthropleura, a species of millipede that lived about 326 million years ago, that is, more than 100 million years before the dinosaurs. 

Measuring 2.7 meters long and weighing approximately 50 kilograms, it is also known as the largest known invertebrate of all time. 👀 The millipede was found by accident on a Northumberland beach, about 60 kilometres north of Newcastle, England. 

Finding fossil remains of giant millipedes is rare, because once they die their bodies tend to disarticulate, so the fossil is likely a moulted shell that the animal shed as it grew. 😲

180 MILLION- YEAR-OLD FOSSIL WAS FOUND IN THE UK

Written by: Stefano Egas 

 The fossilized remains of an ichthyosaur known colloquially as a "sea dragon" - 180 million years old - was found in the UK. The researchers say this could be one of the most important discoveries in recent years. 😱 

The dinosaur was discovered in Rutland, in the English East Midlands region, this ichthyosaur fossil is the largest and most complete that has been found in the United Kingdom, measuring almost 10 meters long and its skull weighing a ton. 

Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, these animals were similar to dolphins in their body shape. They became extinct about 90 million years ago, after appearing for the first time 250 million years ago.

The scientist in charge of the research commented that the specimen is being treated by a specialist in paleontological conservation, in a process that will last between 12 and 18 months. Then, the dinosaur will be on public display.

 

THE BRUTAL EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS IN THE BREEDING SEASON

 

Written by: Stefano Egas 

For 165 million years, dinosaurs ruled our planet; however, the meteorite impact 66 million years ago wiped out 75% of species diversity. Scientists have discovered the exact moment of the fall of a Jurassic empire.  A study claims that the meteorite collided in the northern hemisphere in the breeding season.  

Several studies have explained what happened after the impact, but many of these studies completely ignored the time of the impact, a very important date that could explain the reason for the mass extinction. 😮

Scientists have managed to know the time of year where the steroid collided, which could be summer or spring. The moment of the collisions is more important than you think

because it was produced in the breeding season and these species had long reproductive cycles making it less likely that they would survive. 👀

Scientists determined that it was a breeding date because there were several species of young animals among the fossils.