"Impossible" Dinosaur fossil found

[ursaminortaur]

Scientists believe they have found the fossil of a dinosaur which died on the day of the Yucatán Peninsula asteroid impact.


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/07/fossil-dinosaur-killed-asteroid-strike-thescelosaurus-north-dakota-extinction

Scientists believe they have been given an extraordinary view of the last day of the dinosaurs after they discovered the fossil of an animal they believe died that day.

The perfectly preserved leg, which even includes remnants of the animal’s skin, can be accurately dated to the time the asteroid that brought about the dinosaurs’ extinction struck Earth 66m years ago, experts say, because of the presence of debris from the impact, which rained down only in its immediate aftermath.

“It’s absolutely bonkers,” said Phillip Manning, a professor of natural history at the University of Manchester. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the thescelosaurus leg discovered at the Tanis dig site in North Dakota was the “ultimate dinosaur drumstick”.

He said: “The time resolution we can achieve at this site is beyond our wildest dreams … This really should not exist and it’s absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful. I never dreamt in all my career that I would get to look at something a) so time-constrained; and b) so beautiful, and also tells such a wonderful story.”

The dig has been filmed for a BBC documentary Dinosaurs: The Final Day with Sir David Attenborough; during which the broadcaster will review the fossil finds. “When Sir David looked at ‘[the leg], he smiled and said ‘that is an impossible fossil’. And I agreed,” Manning said.

[XFool]

More on this from the BBC...

Tanis: Fossil of dinosaur killed in asteroid strike found, scientists claim

BBC News

Scientists have presented a stunningly preserved leg of a dinosaur.

"The limb, complete with skin, is just one of a series of remarkable finds emerging from the Tanis fossil site in the US State of North Dakota.

But it's not just their exquisite condition that's turning heads - it's what these ancient specimens are purported to represent.

The claim is the Tanis creatures were killed and entombed on the actual day a giant asteroid struck Earth.

The day 66 million years ago when the reign of the dinosaurs ended and the rise of mammals began."