November 14, 2017
In 2009, the world's largest
dinosaur tracks were discovered in the French village of Plagne, in the Jura
Mountains. Since then, a series of excavations at the site has uncovered other
tracks, sprawling over more than 150 meters. They form the longest sauropod
trackway ever to be found. Having compiled and analyzed the collected data,
which is published in Geobios, scientists from the Laboratoire de Géologie de
Lyon (CNRS / ENS de Lyon / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University), the Laboratoire
Magmas et Volcans (CNRS / Université Clermont Auvergne / Université Jean Monnet
/ IRD), and the Pterosaur Beach Museum conclude these tracks were left 150
million years ago by a dinosaur at least 35 m long and weighing no less than 35
t.
In 2009, when sauropod tracks
were discovered in the French village of Plagne—near Lyon—the news went round
the world. After two members of the Oyonnax Naturalists' Society spotted them,
scientists from the Paléoenvironnements et Paléobiosphère research unit (CNRS /
Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University) confirmed these tracks were the longest in
the world.
Between 2010 and 2012,
researchers from the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon supervised digs at the
site, a meadow covering three hectares. Their work unearthed many more dinosaur
footprints and trackways. It turns out the prints found in 2009 are part of a
110-step trackway that extends over 155 m—a world record for sauropods, which
were the largest of the dinosaurs.
Dating of the limestone layers
reveals that the trackway was formed 150 million years ago, during the Early
Tithonian Age of the Jurassic Period. At that time, the Plagne site lay on a
vast carbonate platform bathed in a warm, shallow sea. The presence of large
dinosaurs indicates the region must have been studded with many islands that
offered enough vegetation to sustain the animals. Land bridges emerged when the
sea level lowered, connecting the islands and allowing the giant vertebrates to
migrate from dry land in the Rhenish Massif.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!