"It's certainly one of the most important discoveries of my life! It comes to show that dinosaurs were not extinct before the impact of the meteorite, there are 65 million years! "These are the comments of Tyler Lyson, the scientist behind the discovery that has been around the world in mid July, as he headed back to the dig site with colleagues.
His discovery - a horn that belonged to a group of herbivorous dinosaur Ceratopsia have proliferated in North America - is the youngest Cretaceous fossils. "This is truly a find for me and for fundamental science. This finding confirms the hypothesis a bit more of a sudden extinction, "he confided delighted to Agence Science-Presse.
The team led by researcher Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University recently found in Montana, United States, a fossil buried just inches below the limit of "KT", c that is to say, within the geological layer that marks the transition period between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary period. In other words, just before the mass extinction of large dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops ...), there are 65 million years.
This fossil recovery he alone is an old debate of modern palaeontology to why and at what exact moment occurred the extinction of dinosaurs? To date, no scientist had found fossilized as close to the limit of "KT", also known as the "gap of three meters."
"This apart, explains Antoine Bercovici, one group of researchers, has been used in recent years to explain the extinction of dinosaurs. A lack of fossils in this area indicate that extinction has taken place gradually [long before the fall of a meteorite] and is linked to various phenomena, such as withdrawal of the sea level or a volcanic eruption. "
But this discovery shows that some specimens were doing fine until the limit of "KT", which would confirm a steeper extinction.
His discovery - a horn that belonged to a group of herbivorous dinosaur Ceratopsia have proliferated in North America - is the youngest Cretaceous fossils. "This is truly a find for me and for fundamental science. This finding confirms the hypothesis a bit more of a sudden extinction, "he confided delighted to Agence Science-Presse.
The team led by researcher Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University recently found in Montana, United States, a fossil buried just inches below the limit of "KT", c that is to say, within the geological layer that marks the transition period between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary period. In other words, just before the mass extinction of large dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops ...), there are 65 million years.
This fossil recovery he alone is an old debate of modern palaeontology to why and at what exact moment occurred the extinction of dinosaurs? To date, no scientist had found fossilized as close to the limit of "KT", also known as the "gap of three meters.""This apart, explains Antoine Bercovici, one group of researchers, has been used in recent years to explain the extinction of dinosaurs. A lack of fossils in this area indicate that extinction has taken place gradually [long before the fall of a meteorite] and is linked to various phenomena, such as withdrawal of the sea level or a volcanic eruption. "
But this discovery shows that some specimens were doing fine until the limit of "KT", which would confirm a steeper extinction.
Source : ledevoir
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