2008-10-17 - Utah, Usa: Nuovo "cimitero di dinosauri" ("Dinosaur graveyard", tracks, "Gnatalie", Deltapodus)

Nel nuovo cimitero dei dinosauri nello Utah meridionale, studiato da Luis Chiappe, sorprendentemente vi sono impronte e resti fossili sia del Giurassico che del Cretaceo.

Tra i primi, datati intorno a 145 milioni di anni fa, vanno annoverati un nuovo sauropode chiamato informalmente “Gnatalie”, e impronte di Stegosauro finora rinvenute solo in Europa (Deltapodus).

Tra i resti del Cretaceo vi sono invece impronte di Sauropodi, Teropodi e Ornitopodi.

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‘Dinosaur graveyard’ found in southeast Utah

A 150-million-year-old sauropod skeleton is the centerpiece of the finds from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, discovered by a Los Angeles team.

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
9:25 AM PDT, October 17, 2008

Los Angeles researchers have discovered a “dinosaur graveyard” in southeastern Utah that is yielding a wealth of fossilized animals and footprints from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

The centerpiece of the new finds is the well-preserved skeleton of a 150-million-year-old sauropod — a long-necked herbivore — that researchers have named “Gnatalie” because the scientists were “eaten alive” by gnats while they were excavating it earlier this year.

The team has so far excavated only part of the fossilized skeleton, which they estimate to be about 50 feet long. “It’s big and takes a lot of time,” said paleontologist Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Gnatalie was found in the remains of what was once a big riverbed and is now a light-colored stratum on the face of an exposed cliff. Nearby in the bed were the disarticulated remains of other sauropods and meat-eating dinosaurs, including the five-foot-long femur of a brachiosaur.

On the ridgeline of the cliff, the team found a large number of footprints preserved in sandstone. Surprisingly, one set of prints from the Jurassic era, which ended about 145 million years ago, prints of a sauropod were found near tracks of carnivorous theropods and herbivorous ornithopods from the early Cretaceous period, which ended about 65 million years ago.

Most stunning of all, to Chiappe, were the three-toed prints of a European stegosaur, named  “Deltapodus tracks have never been found in North America,” he said.

Chiappe and his staff, led by Doug Goudreau and Aisling Farrell, expect to spend at least another decade excavating the site.

The finds will be the centerpiece of an exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County that will open in 2011, he said.

A renovation of the dinosaur exhibit is part of the museum’s $84-million project to restore and seismically strengthen its original 1913 Beaux-Arts-inspired building.

thomas.maugh@latimes.com

source:
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-dinosaurs18-2008oct18,0,3414909.story

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other links (updated on 2008-10-18 11:48 Italy):

‘Dinosaur graveyard’ found in southeast Utah Los Angeles Times - 44 minuti fa A 150-million-year-old sauropod skeleton is the centerpiece of the finds from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, discovered by a Los Angeles team. …

No visas required for six countries Boston Globe - 3 ore fa President Bush, trying to eliminate a major source of contention with allied nations, announced yesterday that the United States is rescinding visa …

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News United Press International - 6 ore fa LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 (UPI) — Researchers said a dinosaur graveyard discovered in Utah holds a wealth of fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. …

Sauropod found in dinosaur graveyard United Press International - 8 ore fa LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 (UPI) — Researchers said a dinosaur graveyard discovered in Utah holds a wealth of fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. …

Willow Plants Cleaning Up Contamination istockAnalyst.com (press release) - 6 ore fa (Source: United Press International)Researchers said 23000 willow plants are helping clean up a 164000-gallon underground fuel leak at a US Army base. …

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