The mysterious "death pits" holding the fossil skeletons of nearly two dozen small dinosaur species may actually be the 160-million-year-old footprints of a giant dinosaur, a new study has suggested.
The first of three dino-filled pits was unearthed nearly a decade ago in northwestern China's remote Xinjiang region.
New Dinosaur Species Identified!
A dinosaur skeleton, which was found 24 years ago near Choteau, is identified as a new species that links North American and Asian dinosaurs.
A dinosaur skeleton, which was found 24 years ago near Choteau, is identified as a new species that links North American and Asian dinosaurs.
Though the fossil finds were quite rare, the mystery remained that what created the death traps in which the animals were entombed.
Analysis of the rocks surrounding the dinosaur fossils shows that the unfortunate animals were stacked up inside in a mixture of volcanic mudstone and sandstone, according to geologist David Eberth and colleagues.
Pollution Scraps Three Species Every Hour from Earth
To save wildlife was the main agenda in the world conference as three species every hour are being scraped off from earth due to pollution.
To save wildlife was the main agenda in the world conference as three species every hour are being scraped off from earth due to pollution.
Instead, the death pits might have been created by the wanderings of the massive sauropod dinosaur Mamenchisaurus, Eberth's team suggests in the study.
Advertisement
New Study Clams Tyrannosaurus Rex Didn't Evolve into a Chicken
A new study has rejected an earlier theory which had suggested that the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex evolved into a chicken.
A new study has rejected an earlier theory which had suggested that the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex evolved into a chicken.
Like beach walkers leaving their "vanishing" prints in wet sand, the huge dinosaur's filled-in prints became "invisible" pit traps.
Advertisement
Dinos may Have Died in Agonizing Death Throes of Asphyxiation
Many fossilized dinosaurs likely resulted from the agonized death throes typical of brain damage and asphyxiation, according to two American palaeontologists
Many fossilized dinosaurs likely resulted from the agonized death throes typical of brain damage and asphyxiation, according to two American palaeontologists
But, the dinosaurs would have easily gotten trapped if they had stumbled into Mamenchisaurus's muddy footprints.
"Theropods in particular would have had a tough time escaping, since the dinosaurs used only their hind legs for locomotion," Eberth said.
In addition, small theropods were most likely coated in feathers that, when covered with mud, would have weighed them down further.
When an animal died, it would become at least partially submerged. Other creatures would then fall into the muddy trap, creating layers of entombed bodies.
After a few months, it's possible some animals were able to escape death because they could stand on the piled-up corpses, according to the study authors.
Multiple individuals of the same species found together in the pits allow paleontologists to better understand the way dinosaurs grew and aged, as well as their roles in the larger ecosystem.
Source-ANI
TRI
