Written By: Avnika Saraf | Updated: Jan 17, 2023, 11:47 AM IST
Scientists in Chile’s Patagonia exhumed fossils of megaraptors and a feathered dinosaur, outside Antartica. Before being extinct, they were believed to have dominated the region’s food chain.
According to the Journal of South American Earth Sciences, the fossils recently discovered were in sizes up to 10 metres long. About 70 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, they were settled in parts of South America.
The meteorite impact on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
The meteorite impact on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
(Photograph:Reuters)
The fossils that were discovered in South America were upto 10 metres in size. Scientists are looking for more conclusive evidence in the find.
The fossils that were discovered in South America were upto 10 metres in size. Scientists are looking for more conclusive evidence in the find.
(Photograph:Reuters)
A fossil piece missing
“We were missing a piece,” Marcelo Leppe, director of the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), told Reuters about the fossil.
(Photograph:Reuters)
Scientists expect to find large mammals, carnivores
Scientists expect to find large mammals and carnivores in the region. “We knew where there were large mammals, there would also be large carnivores, but we hadn’t found them yet,” INACH director Marcelo Leppe said.