New Dinosaur Species

On December 4th of 2007 a spokesperson from the University of Norway in Oslo, revealed that one of their research teams have discovered the remains of a very large, unidentified prehistoric reptile.

The discovery took place in the remote Svalbard islands in the Arctic, approximately 300 miles north of mainland Norway.

Over the course of a year, the research team has recovered skull fragments, vertebrae and the rather huge teeth, of two creatures estimated to be approximately 35 to 40 feet in length.

Although the scientists consider this to be an entirely new species, they are comparing it to the short necked plesiosaur that swam Earth's seas 150 million years ago. The predatory short necked plesiosaur has been hypothesized as a sea-dwelling version of the voracious Tyrannosaurus rex. To put the newly discovered creature in perspective, just think of a predator the size of a large school bus with nine to ten inch long teeth.

What Caused the Extinction of Dinosaurs  . . . Really?

It is a fairly common perspective (as well as the perspective still being taught in schools) that the mass extinction of the dinosaur was brought about by a massive meteorite strike roughly 65 million years ago. 

While there is certainly a strong body of evidence that this indeed is true, in part, new research across a broader field of sciences has indicated that a meteorite alone did not cause the extinction.  It has been determined that during that time period the Earth was ravaged with a series of colossal volcanic eruptions. 

The most notable eruption, that scientists have definitively related to mass extinction is known as the Deccan Traps in India.  This massive ancient lava bed is estimated to have covered an area of about 580,000 square miles, easily twice the size of the state of Texas.  The Super Volcano that produced this lava field would have been unimaginably huge.

In roughly the same time period other Super Volcanoes were erupting in various parts of the world.  For example, scientists have recently recognized that Yellow Stone National Park is actually the caldera of an ancient but massive Super Volcano.  (And it is not dormant, as evidenced by its well known steam vents, like Old Faithful.)  When it erupted in prehistoric times, it was massive and sent plumes of volcanic ash into the atmosphere and across the continent.

Paleontologists have recently found the proverbial "smoking gun" in the dinosaur bone beds of North Dakota.  Here the bones were found intermixed with volcanic ash from the Yellow Stone volcano, however it was the forensic physiological evidence revealed in the bones that is the most telling.  The condition of the bones clearly indicated that the creatures suffocated to death with lungs full of volcanic ash.     

Scientists also see the effect of ancient volcanoes in the fossils of other organisms.  Before the K-T extinction of the dinosaur most sea life was very large and ornate.  After the extinction episode the same species were up to one-twentieth the size, everything got smaller!

It is now theorized that the volcanoes of the period ejected over ten to fifteen times more dust and ash into the atmosphere than the previously 'extinction-credited' meteor that smashed into the Yucatan area of Mexico.

Could it happen again?  It certainly could!