tech
Fossil found tucked away in a drawer turns out to be first dinosaur bone from Antarctica
Scientists have stumbled on a rare dinosaur fossil from Antarctica, tucked away for decades in a drawer.
TL;DR
- A titanosaur tail bone discovered in 1985 in Antarctica has been identified as the first dinosaur bone collected from the continent.
- The fossil was found on James Ross Island and initially recorded as a large reptile before being re-examined by paleontologists.
- This discovery is the second sauropod body fossil known from Antarctica, a continent that was heavily forested when titanosaurs lived there 80 million years ago.
- The identified titanosaur was approximately 23 feet long and possibly young when it died, with its remains likely sinking to the sea floor after floating from the coast.
- Technological advancements allowed researchers to gain more detailed information from the fossil than was possible when it was first found.