Finds in Africa may provide answers to the mystery of the sudden disappearance of lizards
Fossils of the dinosaur Abelisaurus have been discovered in Morocco, further proving that Africa was once the center of prehistoric life.< /p>
Researchers suggest that the last dinosaurs disappeared from the face of the Earth 66 million years ago, and although there is evidence that it was caused by an asteroid impact, the exact nature of this cataclysmic event is still unknown. However, a new discovery in North Africa provides more clues.
New Abelisaurus fossils found in Morocco prove that African dinosaurs remained a diverse species to the very end, confirming that their demise came suddenly as a result of a collision with a giant asteroid.
The causes of the mass extinction of prehistoric reptiles have been the subject of debate in the scientific community for two centuries, with some theories attributing it to natural disasters as well as gradual environmental changes during the age of dinosaurs.
The fossil record shows that the Cretaceous, lasting from 145 to 66 million years ago, ended in a sudden wave of extinction as a huge number of species disappeared around the world in a short period.
Africa, being a huge landmass, most likely had many more species of dinosaurs than North America. Few land rocks from this period survive in Africa due to high levels of volcanic activity, which raised sea levels, plunging much of the continent into shallow seas.
One fossil find reveals a tibia that is smaller than Chenanisaurus, but large compared to modern predators. The other is the foot remains of a slightly smaller abelisaurus, just three meters long.
The newly discovered fossils challenge traditional ideas about dinosaur ecosystems and behavior. Fossils of prehistoric animals have been found near Casablanca. The families, which were identified based on the fossils found, are carnivorous dinosaurs that shared features with their better-known northern cousins, the tyrannosaurs.
For more than 100 million years, dinosaur species have evolved and diversified. This was stimulated by rare, improbable events such as asteroid impacts.
Свежие комментарии