Dinosaur Tracks Found In Victoria

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Paleontologists have discovered the largest deposit of dinosaur footprints in South Australia.

Every one around the waist of a human footprint, measures of several dozen recorded in the sand 100 million years form the largest collection of dinosaur remains discovered in Victoria. Discovered in two sandstone blocks Milanesi Beach, near Cape Otway, is the fourth time, dinosaur footprints were discovered in the state.

One section is particularly interesting because it contains the first dinosaur known Trackway (progress) has never found Victoria three footprints made by a small carnivorous dinosaur about 105 million years ago during the early Cretaceous.

"This is the most important dinosaur discovery of traces of Victoria," said Dr. Tom Rich, a paleontologist at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, and co-author of the paper in detail to find. "There are at least 24 tracks of dinosaurs [here], do a variety of dinosaurs."

Create a good impression

"The essence of dinosaur footprints - unlike dinosaur bones or teeth - is proof of the existence of dinosaurs," said Tom. "Trace Fossils tell us how the dinosaurs lived in the area at the time."

"Trace fossils in Australia is rare and may reveal new information on the types of dinosaurs were in the region," said Dr. Aaron Camen, an expert marsupials treads at the University of Adelaide. "Well-preserved prints tell us that the concrete footing of the animal looked like. They can be used to study how the animal market, and tracks can even provide information on speed, movement and behavior. "

Tom and his colleagues believe that the footprints were made by ornithomimosaurs or "bird mimic" the dinosaurs that were the size of a cock to a cassowary. "We can estimate the speed - between 7 and 9 km / h - based on the separation of the sections and the size of the clues," Tom said "We can also calculate the size of the animal, probably about four times. The maximum the track. "

Posters were the animals that may be of different ages and were walking on a marsh in March to create the snow melted on the storm in the spring. At the time, Victoria would have been within the Antarctic Circle, and it was completely dark and coldest of the year.

"These footprints are different from others in the region, so they made the dinosaurs [carnivores] theropod instead of [herbivorous] ornithopods," said Dr Steve Salisbury, a paleontologist at the University of Queensland, which was not involved in the research. "It is difficult to trace these in context. It may be that the prints were made at a similar, but even that is difficult to confirm, to the point where they were found on the beach ".

Get into the action

One of the sandstone slabs first noticed a local landowner Greg Denney. Professor Pat Vickers-Rich paleontologist at Monash University and co-author of the book describes Greg as "one of the best trackers in the world Dino".

Both patents and Steve invite interested members of the public to look for these types of fossils. "If fingerprints have already been found in a particular place, it is always a good place to look for other," says Steve. "But in many cases it may be difficult for an untrained eye to see if a dinosaur footprints."

The most important thing you can not find a verified, but leave it alone, says Steve. "Taking photos is a great way to find out if you have something interesting, but if you do not know the law in you, it is best not to disturb the new discovery. I was just in Kimberley, where a lot of steps that are very important and tracksites for local Aboriginal culture. " He says. "Take any one of these fossils would be a serious crime."



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