Timesonline

Dinosaur graveyard may unearth new reasons for their extinction

Thomas Cat�n in Madrid

Spanish scientists have unearthed what could be Europe’s largest dinosaur boneyard, finding the remains of 65ft plant-eaters never before discovered on the continent. The palaeontologists believe they have found eight different species amid the 8,000 fossils discovered so far.

The range of species they are finding at the 80 million-year-old site and their state of conservation is virtually unparalleled in Europe and challenges long-held beliefs about the way in which dinosaurs became extinct.

“This is completely beyond what we expected to find,” Francisco Ortega, co-director of the excavation, told The Times. “This represents a huge leap in our understanding of the Upper Cretaceous (period).”

Dozens of experts are working around the clock to excavate the site. It was discovered in June during construction work for a new high-speed rail link between Madrid and Valencia. Palaeontologists, who kept the discovery under wraps, have until the end of the month to remove the skeletons of several hundred dinosaurs before the diggers move back in.

Researchers have not finished excavating the entire area of Lo Hueco, near the city of Cuenca, in western Spain. But they say they have retrieved most of the fossils from the path of the railway.

The find is from a period palaeontologists have little information on in Europe. Most of the sites dating from that period have been found in the Americas.

Scientists had long believed that the diversity of dinosaurs declined sharply as they approached the end of their time on earth. Palaeontologists working in Lo Hueco, though, have been amazed to find a wide variety of dinosaurs from the period.

“Everything indicates that the dino-sours were enjoying great evolutionary vigour when they suddenly disappeared,” said José Luis Sanz, the co-director of the dig.

Mr Ortega said the find should help shed light on the extinction of the dinosaurs in Europe and whether they also died out as a result of the huge meteorite that struck modern-day Mexico. The different species found include three, perhaps four, different types of Titanosaurus – huge, long-necked creatures that munched on plants and walked on four thick legs. More than 100 individual Titanosaurus have been found at the site, some of them with thick armour plating on their backs, a feature not previously seen in Europe.

Many dinosaur skeletons that are nearly intact have also been unearthed.“We have found very complete individuals (dinosaurs) and skull fragments” from Titanosaurus, said Mr Ortega.Other dinosaurs found are believed to include Struthiosaurus, a small, armoured, quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaur.

Until now, only incomplete fossils had been found in Austria and Roma-nia. Researchers also believe they have found two or three types of Dromaeosaurus – small, fast-moving predators with sharp teeth and deadly, sickle-like claws. They have also found a Rhabdodon, a small, two-legged plant-eater with a long tail, short neck and a bulky body.

Researchers also say there is wealth of other plant and animal species at the site that could provide a treasure trove of information about one of Europe’s least-understood periods. They must still sift through 20,000kg of sediment and say they can expect to find dozens of other smaller species. “This is the equivalent of 80 to 100 times the size of a normal excavation in terms of time and money,” Mr Ortega said.

From Times OnlineMarch 5, 2007

59 things that would have stayed secret

What they didn't want you to know: A list of intriguing facts disinterred by the Freedom of Information Act.
»Ministers and MPs were claiming thousands of pounds on taxis as part of £5.9m in expenses for travel

»The Thatcher Government concocted a plan to search for the Loch Ness monster using a team of dolphins

»Foreign diplomats – who have diplomatic immunity – were accused of rapes, sexual assaults, child abuse and murders while working in Britain

»The Government agreed a £1.5m bailout of one of the most troubled schools in its flagship city academies programme ten days before the 2005 general election

»People charged with certain criminal offences in Warwickshire are 30 per cent more likely to be convicted than those in Bedfordshire. The figures showed huge variations in performance of the Crown Prosecution Service

»Politicians are spending £2.2bn a year of taxpayers’ money on private management consultants

»Ted Heath was once offered concert work by Idi Amin of Uganda. The eccentric dictator made his offer in a
1977 telegram

»Ian Huntley was officially “eliminated” as a suspect six days into the investigation into the Soham murders

»Thousands of women are getting breast enlargements, tummy-tucks and nose jobs on the NHS

»Tax inspectors are routinely offered bonuses to encourage them to collect as much money as possible

»Weapons used by paratroopers on Bloody Sunday have ended up in the hands of the army in Sierra Leone, paramilitary police in Beirut and even in an Arkansas gun shop

»Tony Blair spent nearly £2,000 of taxpayers' money on cosmetics over six years

»Seventy-four police officers serving with the Metropolitan Police have criminal records

»Senior civil servants in the Home Office were paid more than £2m in bonuses despite the scandals that have engulfed the department

»The Prime Minister wined and dined celebrities at the taxpayer’s expense at his country residence, Chequers. Guests included Esther Rantzen, Trevor Brooking, Elton John and Des O'Connor

»Killings carried out by strangers have increased by a third since Tony Blair came to power


»Government advice at the time of Prince Charles’s divorce from Diana suggested that his marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles would be illegal

»A clandestine British torture programme existed in postwar Germany, “reminiscent of the concentration camps”

»Britain helped Israel to obtain its nuclear bomb 40 years ago, by selling it 20 tonnes of heavy water

»John Prescott met the US billionaire Philip Anschutz as the businessman’s representatives were aggressively lobbying the Department for Culture, Media and Sport over the progress of the gambling bill and plans to build a supercasino

»The NHS has been giving girls as young as 13 contraceptive injections and implants that make them infertile for up to three years, in an attempt to cut teenage pregnancies

»The Prime Minister took trips costing more than £1.2m over four years from 2002 on RAF jets allocated to the Royal Family and government VIPs, including those for holidays abroad

»Police in England and Wales spend £21m a year on interpreters

»Britain has extradited four times as many people to the US as have been sent in return since the introduction of fast-track extradition


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2963586.ece