Dinosaurs 'survived in a remote 'lost world' for half a million years before extinction'

Dinosaurs survived extinction for another 500,000 years in a remote 'Lost World', scientists claim.

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:19PM BST 01 May 2009

The discovery brings Hollywood's 'Lost World' ? Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park a step closer to reality. Photo: REUTERS

New evidence suggests an "isolated community" escaped annihilation and lived on a rocky, desert plateau in North America.

Until now, palaeontologists widely believed the creatures were wiped out 65 million years ago when an asteroid collided with Earth.

But now experts say a "pocket" of dinosaurs survived and roamed a remote area of what is now New Mexico and Colorado.

Carbon dating of newly-discovered bones in the San Juan Basin proves that these lived for another half-a-million years.

The discovery, published this week in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, has been hailed as one of the most important breakthroughs in palaeontology this century.

It also brings Hollywood's 'Lost World' – Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park – and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name, a step closer to reality.

The bones were discovered buried at Ojo Alamo, a soft sandstone valley deep in the remote San Juan Basin.

A team of experts unearthed the bones, which included 34 from a single hadrosaur, and used carbon dating techniques to age them.

According to the results, they were 500,000 years younger than any other dinosaur bones previously found.

Jim Fassett, author of the research of the US Geological Survey, said many would still doubt the discovery.

He said: "The great difficulty with this hypothesis – that these are the remains of dinosaurs that survived – is ruling out the possibility that the bones date from before the extinction.

"After being killed and deposited in sands and muds, it is possible for bones to be exhumed by rivers and then incorporated into younger rocks."

David Polly, editor of Palaeontologia Electronica, said the scenario of humans and dinosaurs existing together still belongs in the "realms of fantasy".

He added: "One thing is certain – if dinosaurs did survive, they were not as widespread as they were before the end of the Cretaceous and did not persist for long.

"This is a controversial conclusion, and many palaeontologists will remain sceptical."

Meanwhile experts from the University of Plymouth have uncovered new evidence about the Earth's first major catastrophe.

Geologists say the planet was hit by "runaway" global warming 250 million years ago, which wiped out between 80 and 95 per cent of its species.

The findings were published in the journal, Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/dinosaurs/5256574/Dinosaurs-survived-in-a-remote-lost-world-for-half-a-million-years-before-extinction.html