Sunday, June 19, 2005

South American Dinosaur Track Site Shows Late Cretaceous Biodiversity

From language.com, photos of the Cal Orcko dinosaur tracksThe paleontological team at the Cal Orko cement quarry in Sucre, Bolivia (near the center of the country) discovered over 5,000 tracks belonging to 294 dinosaur species. During the late Cretaceous, this area was a shallow lake; subsequent upheaval exposed the tracks in a near-vertical position.

Tracks for sauropods and theropods have been found, but also discovered were tracks for an ankylosaurus, an animal previously not found in South America. A Cretaceous Park is planned to open on the site next spring, to help preserve and protect the vulnerable outcroppings.

Read the full article at Tierramérica.