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The Bureau of Land Management announced on Monday "a
major dinosaur fossil discovery." The find happened in southeastern Utah
near Hanksville and uncovered several very-well preserved bones, freshwater
clams and petrified trees.
The fossils are expected to provide scientists with a
clearer image about life in the area many million years ago. So far researchers
confirmed the identity of four long-tailed, long-necked herbivore dinosaurs
called sauropods, two carnivores and analysis will determine whether the
remained pieces belong to a stegosaurus.
The dinosaurs are from the late Jurassic period, which is
the same as the ones at the Dinosaur National Monument and also the
Cleveland-Lloyd quarry and so far no new specimens were found.
The site was first investigated last summer by the officials
from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, who recently decided to
send a team for the excavation process. The work site spreads on a surface of
50 yards wide and 200 yards long and will surely be considerably enlarged over
the months to come.
"The preservation of these dinosaurs is
excellent," said Scott Foss, a BLM paleontologist, according to the
Associated Press. He also added that the tests will provide information about
the life 150 million years ago and even details about the ancient climate.
The museum’s officials will continue investigating the dig
site and more news are sure to follow over the next several weeks. Due to some
security concerns the exact location of the discovery was not offered to the
public.
The late Jurassic had the world’s largest animals to ever
walk on the face of the Earth and scientists hope to find some pieces and clues
that will lead to new discoveries and theories.
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