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Solid Pachyrhinosaurus grave found on the Canadian “River of Death”

Solid Pachyrhinosaurus grave found on the Canadian “River of Death”

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Paleontologists in Alberta, Canada, have discovered over 8,000 dinosaur bones in a massive prehistoric grave as Pipestone Creek bone bed or “river of death”. This area hides under the slopes of a lavish forest to one of the most important paleontological discoveries in North America. The excavation, led by Professor Emily Bamforth, aims to solve the 72 million year old secret of how these dinosaurs fulfill their sudden death.

“We believe that it is one of the biggest bones in North America,” said Professor Bamforth loudly BBC News. “The density of the fossils in the area left us speechless.”

The bones all belong to the Pachyrhinosaurus Lakustai, a horned dinosaur that is marked by a thick bump on the nose. On site, over eight thousand bones of these individual species were discovered, which offer a rare opportunity to examine a large sample from one moment.

“All bones belong to a single community of a single species that was extracted from a snapshot in good time, and it is a sample of enormous size. This almost never happens in the fossil stock,” said Professor Bamforth.

Paleontologists believe that the Pachyrhinosaurus dinosaurs in a colossal herd hung up hundreds of kilometers when a catastrophic event abruptly ended their journey. “We believe that it was a herd for seasonal migration that was involved in a catastrophic event that ended with a good part of it, if not with the entire herd,” said Bamforth.

Evidence indicates a sudden flood as a probable cause of the mass extinction. The rocks at the location show sediment vertebrae from rapidly running water and stir everything in its way. “All the signs indicate that the catastrophic event is a sudden flood, perhaps a storm over the mountains, which an unstoppable water flows of water in the herd that removed the trees and moved stones,” remarked Bamforth.

While the team removes the sensitive task of removing dirt and dust layers, there is a mess of petrified bones. The fossils are incredibly summarized and with an estimated 300 bones per square meter. “It is an extremely sensitive task because the fossils are very close together,” she said.

The discoveries include a huge Pachyrhinosaurus skull, which is about 1.5 meters long and has called “Big Sam”. Unique features that can be found in some people such as missing horns offer insights into individual variations within the herd.

“We think that a large piece of bone is part of a hip there,” Bamforth emphasized during the excavation. “Here we have all these long, thin bones. They are ribs. And this is interesting: it is part of a toe bone. We have no idea what it is. It is a great example of a secret of Pipestone Creek.”

The excavation season has just started and lasts until autumn. The team hardly scratched the surface of what is below. So far you have excavated an area of ​​the size of a tennis court, but the bone bed extends a kilometer into the hill. “That's why we keep coming back because we always find new things,” said Bamforth.

The bones are brought to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in the nearby Grande Prairie for cleaning and analysis. The laboratory is filled with fossils, including Pachyrhinosaurus bones of all sizes, from young to old so that researchers can get to know the biology of the species. The study of such a large amount of material from a single species answers questions about their growth and composition of the community.

“More than half of the dinosaurs known in the world were described from the determination of a single copy. In this case there are thousands of Pachyrhinosaurus,” Bamforth noted.

The Pipestone Creek location also contains fossils of other dinosaurs such as Edmontosaurus, another herbivore that roamed the old forests. The study of these fossils is essential for understanding the old ecosystem, which existed 72 million years ago in the northwest of Alberta.

The team's efforts are presented in a new BBC series that brings this prehistoric world to life with visual effects and science. The Pipestone Creek bone bed continues to provide new discoveries, and paleontologists are confident that many other prehistoric secrets are waiting to be revealed.

“We know that every time we come here we have absolute certainty to find bones. And every year we discover something new about the species,” said Bamforth.

Produced with the support of a news analysis system.



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