Wednesday, January 7, 2009

New Fossils Discovered in the Sahara Desert!!!!

In the Sahara Desert, paleontologists believe that they have unearthed a new type of pterosaur, a giraffe-sized dinosaur, and a previously unknown sauropod dinosaur. The pterosaur was identified by a fragment of beak from the giant flying reptile. The sauropod, an herbivore, was represented by a long bone measuring more than a yard long, which they believe indicates an animal nearly sixty-five feet in length. Paleontologists believe that both lived almost 100 million years ago. They found the fossils southeast of Morocco, near the Algerian border, during a month long expedition. Nizar Ibrahim, a University College Dublin graduate student said that finding the two specimens in one expedition is remarkable, especially as both might well represent new species. Ibrahim will undertake an analysis of the sauropod bone, which he expects is a new species and genus of sauropod. He will also examine the pterosaur remains. The team also discovered rare dinosaur footprints, including some that record several animals walking along the same trail, as well as hundreds of dinosaur teeth, bits of giant crocodiles and some new species of fish. The fossils will return to Morocco for display after a study in Dublin. I believe this team found an amazing discovery. The more fossils we find the more we can learn about the age of the dinosaurs. I found this article at
http://www.livescience.com/animals/081217-sahara-bones.html

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