Posted on 07/16/2011 4:39:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A fossil discovered in Montana has given new momentum to the hypothesis that dinosaurs were thriving right up until a devastating meteor hit Earth 65 million years ago, causing their extinction.
Scientists from Yale University have found what is believed to be the youngest dinosaur fossil ever found, thought to be from just before the mass extinction took place.
The discovery, described in a study published in the online edition of the journal Biology Letters, contradicts the theory that the dinosaurs slowly went extinct before the cosmic impact.
The fossil -- a 45-centimetre horn believed to be from a triceratops -- was found in Montana's Hell Creek formation. It was located just below the K-T boundary, the band of the Earth's crust that represents the time period in which the meteor struck.
One of the main problems with the meteor theory has been the lack of any non-avian dinosaur fossils buried within 10 feet of the boundary -- known as the 'three metre gap.'
The absence of fossils, some paleontologists say, indicates dinosaurs were already extinct when the cosmic impact occurred.
Yale paleontologist Tyler Lyson, lead author of the study, says the new discovery proves otherwise.
"To all of our surprise the boundary was no more than 13 centimetres above this horn, and the significance is this indicates that at least some dinosaurs were doing quite well in this locale at the time of the meteor impact," he told CTV.ca.
There is evidence that avian dinosaurs thrived up to and into the K-T boundary. In fact, they are believed to have survived the meteor and evolved into modern-day birds.
(Excerpt) Read more at ottawa.ctv.ca ...
There. Fixed it. :-)
I hereby call “NO HT PICS!”
One specimen and they project it as “proof”?
Imagine the nonsense you could postulate if one specimen were scientifically sufficient?
Well, Human beings are not going to be found in the proper geological layer either.
Those not killed by the first strike might take a while to die. It could have taken hundreds of years to kill them all.
I think there was more than one reason why the giant reptiles and giant mammals died out. Of course, the asteroid/comet ? could have caused several effects.
It’s a good thing they are all dead. Can you imagine having to pick up the POOP?
My thoughts exactly! We’ll see how long it takes for someone to post one anyway.
There. Fixed it. :-)
Looks like they may have moved to SE MT - Glendive.
There are ZERO specimens of dark matter, dark energy, and black holes, and yet they insist those things exist.
Well, a 65 miles across rock racing at the earth at 17,000 miles per hour plus would cause a rather sever stress on the animals and their environment.
Dinosaurs, being warm blooded, needed a minimum oxygen level. The avian dinosaurs had evolved bigger lungs to cope with the increased oxygen demands of flying, and so were better able to cope with a lowered oxygen level.
How else to explain dinos all dying off, on separated continents, even dinos that spent all their time in the ocean?
Chinese cooks with big block butcher knives..
“Just below” the KT Boundary can mean it died days before or thousands of years before depending on any number of variables. Things like how far below the KT boundary, the type of sediment, how densely packed it is, etc.
I’m sorry but I’m gonna do it.. Is it Larry King or Helen Thomas?
OK so this last Dinosaur was found thousands of years before the KT boundary, so that proves the meteor killed all Dinosaurs thousands of years before it hit??
uuuum OK,
So let me guess, That Wooly mammoth from 10,000 years found frozen in Siberia proves all Woolly Mammoths were driven extinct by the Tunguska impact in 1906
This Dino killed by the Meteor thing has ceased being science a long time ago
In Science you gather data and form a hypothesis
In fake science like this and global warming you form a hypothesis and try to shoehorn all data to make it fit.
I agree.
The Earth used to be smaller, spun faster, and a higher oxygen content. Those things enabled the reptiles and mammals to grow to such extreme sizes. The Land masses might have been changing (moving up or down) and the oceans relocating much more than they do now.
Loss of breeding grounds, or feeding spots, and maybe viruses could have helped wipe them out. Over time, it became harder to carry their weight as gravity increased.
So... they went 'extinct'. Life is life. It just has different forms at different times to match the living conditions. Forms go extinct. Life doesn't.
18 flipping posts it took! gawd, FR has changed. either that or she is SO yesterday’s news.
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