Norwegian Scientists Discover Evidence Of Arctic Dinosaurs
[Original headline: Norwegian Scientist discover tracks from unknown Dinosaur at Svalbard!]
Tracks from an unknown type of dinosaur are found at the Norwegian Arctic Island of Svalbard. 70 centimeters Long footprints are preserved. Now the search is on for bones.
"There must be bones. If I have to search for ten years, this kind of find is worth it," says scientist Jørn Hurum at the University of Oslo. He’s working at the museum of geology, and is Norway's only Dinosaur-scientist.
Earlier this year Hurum found about 20 footprints inside a narrow cave out on the Festningsodden, which reaches out into the Isfjord on the opposite side of the Barentsburg fjord.
From what is known about the origins of Svalbard, the tracks are estimated to be around 123 million years old.
At that time Svalbard was located at 60 degrees north, roundabout where Oslo is today. The layers of rock on mainland Norway are far older than the Dinosaurs, so there are no traces of them there.
In 1960 the first tracks from dinosaurs were found on Svalbard, which led to International attention. These footprints proved that there had been ”Polar-Dinos” living in cold conditions with snow and ice.
National Geographic recently described the hunt for polar dinos. Scientists from the world's most southern and northern areas work close together. Traces of dinosaurs have also been found in Australia and Alaska.
"One used to think that Dinosaurs lived in warm swamp areas but new research indicates that the large animals could adjust to the cold," says Thomas Rich, an Australian palaentologist to the magazine.
The theory is now that maybe these creatures went with the seasons, and left for cooler places in summer, and back to the warmer areas in the winter. Findings in Australia shows there were small, fast lizards which could travel vast distances in a short period of time. Up untill now the scientist have thought that the tracks were from the plant-eating Iguanodon, which also had left footprints in southern Europe.
"But on closer inspection we are convinced that these findings on Svalbard are from a so far unknown type
of dinosaur," says Jørn Hurum.
The footprints are imprinted in sandstone. There is also fossilized plants found nearby, presumably what they ate. The Dinos that roamed what is now Svalbard, were two-legged plant eating lizards 7 to 9 meters long, he says.
"What we are hoping for is to find a cranium. That would tell us the most of the prehistoric animal."
The latest findings were found in a narrow mountain cave by Festningen. The sediments are very fragile, and work can only be done when the frost holds it together, says Hurum.
In June they are going to continue the research and look for bones.
A FarShores 'thanks' to R.Kielland , Oslo, Norway for not only translating but forwarding this story.
• Story published by:
Aftenposten, Oslo / Norway | Ole Magnus Rapp - May 25.02
All Copyrights© are acknowledged.
Material reproduced here is for
educational and research purposes only.
