Posted on 03/23/2010 7:43:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) – It had a body the size of a sheep, a long neck and tail, and lived some 185 million years ago. Scientists call this dinosaur find "a rare skeleton of a new species."
Paleontologists unearthed the partial remains of the plant-eating creature, named Seitaad ruessi, in the red rocks of the Navajo Sandstone region of the western US state of Utah.
The bones were found just below stone and adobe dwellings of the ancient Anasazi people in a site known as the Eagles Nest.
Seitaad is an ancestor of the giant long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs such as Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus that roamed Earth in the late Jurassic period, according to research published in the March 24 edition of PLoS ONE, the online open-access journal produced by the Public Library of Science.
The study was conducted by paleontologist Joseph Sertich, a Stony Brook University doctoral student, and Mark Loewen of the Utah Museum of Natural History.
"Although Seitaad was preserved in a sand dune, this ancient desert must have included wetter areas with enough plants to support these smaller dinosaurs and other animals," Sertich said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Just like in deserts today, life would have been difficult in Utah's ancient 'sand sea.'"
The remains were discovered in 2004 and excavated the following year.
Seitaad ruessi is a sauropodomorph, a type of dinosaur common during the Early Jurassic period, when all of the continents were still joined together in the supercontinent of Pangaea.
The discovery "confirms the widespread success of sauropodomorph dinosaurs during the Early Jurassic Period," the scientists said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This image obtained from University of Utah shows the partial remains of the plant-eating creature, named Seitaad ruessi, in the red rocks of the Navajo Sandstone region of the western US state of Utah. It is on display at the Utah Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City. (AFP/HO/File)
Don't they mean dead species that we never seen before?
Navajo Sandstone is a geological stratum, not a geographical region.
Did they find it in Plains Georgia?
What’s in your backyard?
I thought species names were supposed to be in Latin, even if it is "new Latin." How is "Seitaad" Latin? Sounds more like Arabic.
Where the hell do they come up with these stupid names?
2 red foxes, 22 skunks, 12 raccoons, 4 Possum and various dead rats and mice and that’s just in the last 2 years. (the 2 fox had rabies)
>>Where the hell do they come up with these stupid names?<<
Usually after the discoverer and the place.
How in the world Pelosi can hide in plain sight is news to me. How could they miss her in her SEIU purple suit?
Aaaah! My eyes! My eyes!!!
So the Anasazi disappeared after eating all of the dinosaurs?
when part of a ‘scientists’ explanation is “must have”, i know he’s like me, just guessing.
Maybe it ate the ancestor of the russet potato.
...and this here's the body
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.