They discovered the leg of a Thesselosaurus – a small herbivore – next to a fragment of the seven-mile-wide space rock that killed it. Experts believe that the limb, full of skin, probably “ripped” when the asteroid Chicxulub hit and caused a sudden flood. The creature is believed to have been “buried on the day of the collision”. His fossilized foot was discovered along with a number of notable finds at the Tanis fossil site in the US state of North Dakota. Paleontologists say it is the first discovery of a dinosaur victim in the famous asteroid strike, which left a 93-mile-wide crater in what is now the Gulf of Mexico. They also believe they have uncovered a tiny fragment of the space rock that ended the dinosaur era and led to the rise of mammals. The discoveries were made by University of Manchester paleontologist Robert De Palma at a famous excavation site called Tanis, found in 2008 and nicknamed “the dinosaur graveyard”. They could provide the first physical evidence that dinosaurs were killed by asteroid strikes at the end of the Cretaceous. Very few dinosaur remains have been found in the rocks that date back several thousand years before the impact, so discovering a fossil from the day of the catastrophe would be great. A new BBC documentary presented by Sir David Attenborough next week that will reveal several new findings in Tanis. The fossil foot (pictured) once belonged to a dinosaur known as Thescelosaurus, most likely removed in a flood, according to researchers Balls (glass earth beads) rained down from the sky less than an hour after the famous Chicxulub collision and are now preserved in Tanis There are approximately 1,800 miles between Tanis and the Chicxulub crash site (in modern-day Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula). The overwhelming force of the impact was felt all over the planet
THESKELOSAVROS: “WONDERFUL LEVER”
– Nutrition: Vegetarian
– When did he live: Late Cretaceous (76-67 million years ago)
– Found in: Canada, USA
– Dinosaur species: Evornithopods
– Length: 11.4 feet (3.5 meters)
Source: Museum of Natural History
“This is the most incredible thing we could imagine here, the best script; the only thing we always wanted to find on this site and here we have it,” DePalma told the BBC.
“Here we have a creature that was buried on the day of the impact – we did not yet know if it had died during the impact, but now it looks like it probably died.”
The findings were reported by the BBC after the company and Sir David Attenborough had exclusive access to the documentary site.
Entitled “Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough”, the documentary will air on BBC One on Friday 15 April.
Filmed over three years in Tanis, the documentary will also give the audience a first taste of other historical finds.
These will include fish inhaled in impact debris, a fossilized turtle skewered from a wooden stake and skin from a horned trikerato.
“We have so much detail with this site that they tell us what happened moment by moment, it’s almost like we see it being played in movies,” DePalma said.
“You look at the rock column, you look at the fossils there and it brings you back to that day.”
The researchers will present their findings for peer review so that they can be confirmed before being published in journals.
Professor Paul Barrett at the Museum of Natural History in London said the preserved leg once belonged to a dinosaur of the genus Thescelosaurus, a name that translates as “magnificent lizard”.
The findings were reported by the BBC after the company and Sir David Attenborough (photo) had exclusive access to the site. Here, Sir Attenborough studies the skin of a horned tricycle
Paleontologist Robert DePalma studies one of the fossils in a laboratory in North Dakota. Researchers will submit their findings for peer review so that they can be confirmed before being published in journals.
TANIS: A ‘DINOSAURS NECKLACE’ IN NORTH DAKOTA
Tanis is a famous site that seems to record the events from the first minutes until a few hours after the impact of the giant asteroid Chicxulub in great detail.
The Chicxulub crash site – located in modern-day Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula – is about 1,800 miles from Tanis, but the force of the impact meant it affected the entire planet.
Tanis was discovered in 2008, but only in a 2019 document was it announced to the world, along with discoveries such as fish embedded in pellets, dinosaur bones, marine reptile fossils, feathers, eggs, plant material and more.
“He is from a group that we had no previous record of what his skin looked like and it shows very clearly that these animals were very scaly like lizards,” Barrett told the BBC. “They were not winged like their meat-eating contemporaries.
“It looks like an animal whose leg has been amputated very quickly. There is no evidence of disease foot, no obvious pathologies, no trace of the foot being cleaned, such as bite marks or pieces of what is missing.
“Well, the best idea we have is that this is an animal that died more or less instantly.”
It is already known that dinosaurs became extinct from the Chicxulub impact event – an asteroid or comet that fell vertically and fell into a shallow sea on what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico about 66 million years ago.
For those not killed immediately by the collision, the collision released a huge cloud of dust and soot that caused global climate change, wiping out 75 percent of all animal and plant species.
All dinosaurs except birds, pterosaurs, ammonites and most marine reptiles became extinct, while mammals, birds, crocodiles and turtles survived.
When the asteroid hit the Earth, it shook the continental shelf and caused huge waves in water bodies, such as rivers and lakes.
They moved huge volumes of sediment that flooded the fish and buried them alive, while impact balls (glass beads of earth) rained down from the sky, less than an hour after the impact.
Tanis is a famous site that seems to record the events from the first minutes until a few hours after the impact of the giant asteroid Chicxulub in great detail.
Ian Kellett at Tanis in North Dakota filming one of the new finds – horned triceratum skin – while still on the ground
The photo shows paleontologist Robert De Palma working on a fossil at the Tanis Excavation Site – formed at the time of the impact – in North Dakota, USA
DePalma told the BBC: “We have so much detail with this site that they tell us what happened at the moment, it’s almost like watching it in the movies.”
Tanis was discovered in 2008, but only in a 2019 document was it announced to the world, along with discoveries such as fish embedded in pellets, dinosaur bones, marine reptile fossils, feathers, eggs, plant material and more.
There are about 1,800 miles between Tanis and the location of the Chicxulub crash site (in modern-day Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula), but the force of the impact meant it affected the entire planet.
DePalma told the Smithsonian that seismic waves from the asteroid hit Tanis within minutes.
The disturbance created horrible waves known as sheikhs flying fish and other organisms around, as if they were in water flowing back and forth in a bathtub.
About 66 million years ago, the horrible waves known as Chicxulub-induced seiches threw fish and other organisms around as if they were in water flowing back and forth in a bathtub (artist impression).
“As far as we can tell, most of the articulated carcasses are from animals that were either killed when trapped in the mud, or a little earlier as part of the same violent flooding,” he said.
Earlier this year, scientists from Sweden announced that the Chicxulub collision occurred in the spring of the northern hemisphere.
They studied the bones of six fish that died less than 60 minutes after the asteroid struck, were recovered from Tanis, to reveal secrets about the time of death.
Entitled “Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough”, the documentary will air on BBC One on Friday 15 April
The Chicxulub crash is widely believed to have caused the extinction of non-bird dinosaurs (conceptual image)
KILLING DINOSAIRS: HOW A STAR SITE DESTROYED 75% OF ALL ANIMAL AND PLANT SPECIES
About 66 million years ago, non-bird dinosaurs became extinct and more than half of the world’s species became extinct. This mass extinction paved the way for the rise of mammals and the appearance of humans. The asteroid Chicxulub is often cited as a possible cause of Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. The asteroid fell into a shallow sea in what is now the Gulf of Mexico. The conflict unleashed a huge cloud of dust and soot that caused global climate change, wiping out 75 percent of all animal and plant species. The researchers claim that the soot required for such a global catastrophe could only come from a direct impact on rocks in shallow waters around Mexico, which are particularly rich in hydrocarbons. Within 10 hours of the collision, a huge tsunami erupted on the shores of the Gulf, experts believe. About 66 million years ago, birdless dinosaurs became extinct and more than half of the world’s species became extinct. The asteroid Chicxulub is often cited as a possible cause of …