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Cretaceous Alaska Was ‘Superhighway’ for Migrating Dinosaurs, Paleontologists Say
Sci-News.com ^ | Aug 8, 2018 | News Staff / Source

Posted on 08/08/2018 12:28:30 PM PDT by ETL

Paleontologists have discovered the first North American co-occurrence of hadrosaur and therizinosaur tracks, providing more evidence that Alaska was the ‘superhighway’ for dinosaurs between Asia and western North America 65-70 million years ago (Late Cretaceous epoch).

In 2012-2014, Dr. Anthony Fiorillo from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and colleagues discovered distinct footprints in Denali National Park, central Alaska Range, that they determined to be made by therizinosaurs, unusual predatory dinosaurs thought to have become herbivores.

What surprised the team most was the co-occurrence of dozens of hadrosaurs, also known as duck-bill dinosaurs.

“Hadrosaurs are very common and found all over Denali National Park. Previously, they had not been found alongside therizinosaurs in the park,” Dr. Fiorillo said.

“In Mongolia, where therizinosaurs are best known — though no footprints have been found in association — skeletons of hadrosaurs and therizinosaurs have been found to co-occur from a single rock unit so this was a highly unusual find in Alaska, and it prompted my interest.”

“From our research, we’ve determined that this track association of therizinosaurs and hadrosaurs is currently the only one of its kind in North America.”

The plant-eating therizinosaurs, which are rare and unusual creatures in the fossil record, had long skinny necks, little teeth, a small beak for cropping plants, and big torsos accompanied by large hind feet and long arms. ..."

Dr. Fiorillo has long postulated that Cretaceous Alaska could have been the thoroughfare for fauna between Western North America and Asia — two continents that shared each other’s fauna and flora in the latest stages of the Cretaceous.

“This study helps support the idea that Alaska was the gateway for dinosaurs as they migrated between Asia and North America,” said co-author Dr. Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, of Hokkaido University Museum in Japan.

(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Science
KEYWORDS: ak; alaska; cretaceous; denali; dinosaur; dinosaurs; godsgravesglyphs; paleontology
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To: KC_Lion

Bwaaa-Haaa-Haaa!


21 posted on 08/08/2018 1:27:31 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: ETL
p07
22 posted on 08/08/2018 1:35:18 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: ETL

drill baby drill, dinosaurs make good oil.


23 posted on 08/08/2018 1:43:26 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Snickering Hound
Image result for triceratops gif car




...don't ask

24 posted on 08/08/2018 1:46:04 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: ETL
Cold blooded dinosaurs in Alaska can only mean one thing: global warming caused by dino-SUVs and methane emissions from... well... flatulence:


25 posted on 08/08/2018 3:48:03 PM PDT by BroJoeK ((a little historical perspective...))
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To: BroJoeK

26 posted on 08/08/2018 3:49:09 PM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: ETL

Road rage?


27 posted on 08/08/2018 4:31:30 PM PDT by Disambiguator (Keepin' it analog.)
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To: ETL

To my knowledge, no Therizinosaur skull has ever been found. Just arms, claws, and leg bones.

How can anybody tell it was a plant-eater?
They must be putting feathers on dino’s again to justify “evolution”.


28 posted on 08/08/2018 6:22:04 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

>>To my knowledge, no Therizinosaur skull has ever been found.
>>Just arms, claws, and leg bones.
>>How can anybody tell it was a plant-eater?

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-americamovil-us&q=Therizinosaurus+skull&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid9e36597cAhXkYt8KHZK1CtoQBQgZKAA&biw=320&bih=490


29 posted on 08/08/2018 6:29:38 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: DungeonMaster

Every so often a dino from the Jurassic period turns up in Cretaceous Rock and the scientists always do their best to jingle their way out of how that happened.

They’ve also found dino skeletons above the so-called “Z-coal line” or K/T Boundary (Post Cretaceous Era). Hardly anything like that gets published.


30 posted on 08/08/2018 6:30:03 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: ETL

Skull has never been found, even Wikipedia says so :0


31 posted on 08/08/2018 6:39:53 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

Yes, I know. But somewhere it had said they had at some point realized or believed it was very similar/closely related to another dinosaur in which skulls had been found. The other had plant eating teeth. I’m on a tiny smartphone right now so it’s a real pain in the arse to look for and post stuff. Tomorrow I’ll look again.


32 posted on 08/08/2018 7:33:20 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal; SunkenCiv; ETL; Red Badger; blam; BenLurkin; All

They might be able to tell by the ratio of the various species. There would be a number of herbivores, but very few carnivores for the various ecological niches.


33 posted on 08/08/2018 8:23:52 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
I wonder which direction they were heading..

34 posted on 08/08/2018 11:47:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal; gleeaikin

>>To my knowledge, no Therizinosaur skull has ever been found.
>>Just arms, claws, and leg bones.
>>How can anybody tell it was a plant-eater?

From Wikipedia...

See especially the last paragraph.
Also, plant eaters often have large guts/rib cages for disgesting large amounts of plant matter.

From Wiki:

Though the fossil remains of Therizinosaurus are incomplete, inferences can be made about their physical characteristics based on related therizinosaurids.

Like other members of their family, Therizinosaurus probably had small skulls atop long necks, with bipedal gaits and heavy, deep, broad bodies (as evidenced by the wide pelvis of other therizinosaurids).

Their forelimbs may have reached lengths of up to 2.5 metres (8.2 feet)[1] or even 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) in the largest known specimen.[2] Their hindlimbs ended in four weight-bearing toes, unlike other theropod groups, in which the first toe was reduced to a dewclaw.

In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated the maximum size of Therizinosaurus at 10 metres (33 ft) in length and five tonnes in weight.[2] They are the largest therizinosaurs known, and the largest known maniraptorans.[2]

The most distinctive feature of Therizinosaurus was the presence of gigantic claws on each of the three digits of their front limbs. These were common among therizinosaurs but especially large in Therizinosaurus, and while the largest claw specimens are incomplete, they probably reached 0.7–1 metres (2.3–3.3 ft) in length.

The claws are the longest known from any animal.[3] The claws were relatively straight, only gradually tapering into a point, as well as extremely narrow and transversely flattened.[2][4][5][6]

The feeding habits of Therizinosaurus are unknown since no skull material has ever been found that could indicate their diet. However, like other therizinosaurs, they were probably primarily herbivorous.[7]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therizinosaurus


35 posted on 08/09/2018 7:39:40 AM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal
This timeline of therizinosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the therizinosaurs, unusually long-necked, pot-bellied, and large-clawed herbivorous theropod dinosaurs closely related to birds.

The early history of therizinosaur research occurred in three phases. The first phase was the discovery of scanty and puzzling fossils in Asia by the Central Asiatic Expeditions of the 1920s and Soviet-backed research in the 1950s. This phase resulted in the discovery of the Therizinosaurus cheloniformis type specimen. Soviet paleontologist Evgeny Maleev interpreted these unusual remains as belonging to some kind of gigantic turtle.[1]

The second major phase of therizinosaur research followed the discovery of better preserved remains in the 1970s by collaborative research between the Soviets and Mongolians. These finds revealed the true nature of therizinosaurs as bizarre dinosaurs.[1] However, the exact nature and classification of therizinosaurs within Dinosauria was controversial as was their paleobiology.

When Rozhdestventsky first reinterpreted therizinosaurs as dinosaurs he argued that they were unusual theropods that may have used their clawed arms to break open termite mounds or collect fruit.[2] Osmolska and Roniewicz also considered therizinosaurs to be theropods.[1]

In 1979, Altangerel Perle named the new species Segnosaurus galbinensis, which although he recognized was an unusual theropod, he did not recognize as a therizinosaur. Consequently, he named the new family Segnosauridae and, in 1980, Segnosauria.[1]

Two years later, Perle recognized commonalities between Therizinosaurus and segnosaurs, reclassifying the former as a member of the latter. From hereout therizinosaur research was considered "segnosaur" research.[3] Perle himself thought that his "segnosaurs" were semi-aquatic fish-eaters. However, in the early 1990s, researchers like Rinchen Barsbold and Teresa Maryańska cast doubt on the connection between therizinosaurs and segnosaurs altogether.[3]

Nevertheless, the description Alxasaurus elsitaiensis provided more evidence for a close relationship between the therizinosaurs and "segnosaurs" and led to a revision of their classification.

The discovery of this and other primitive therizinosaurs in China formed the beginnings of the third major wave of therizinosaur research.[1] That same year Russell and Russell reinterpreted therizinosaurs as herbivorous foragers like mammalian chalicotherium.[2] Other significant finds of the 1990s include therizinosaur eggs with embryos preserved inside[4] and the first known therizinosaur with feathers, Beipiaosaurus, which was described from China in 1999.[5]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_therizinosaur_research

36 posted on 08/10/2018 4:04:15 AM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: ETL

There’s too many unanswered questions about the “Therizinosaur” to justify what the current scientific community classifies it as.

Like the Apatosaurus skull that was hard to find, until we get a full skeleton it’ll remain a mystery IMHO.

They love to claim new species are discovered all the time, when in most cases new dinos are simply juvenile or adolescent versions of full grown adults. Even Robert Bakker has admitted this.


37 posted on 08/10/2018 8:15:56 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: ETL; Gamecock; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON
Must have had wide lanes, too.


38 posted on 08/10/2018 8:22:57 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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