Dinosaur Fossil Discoveries in Antarctica :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Dinosaur Fossil Discoveries in Antarctica The chance of two different research groups finding two different fossils that are in fact two different kinds of species within the course of a week is close to impossible. However, this rare and lucky occurrence in the paleontology world has occured. Two research teams have retrieved fossils of two different dinosaurs in Antarctica that might possibly be unknown species. Judd Case and James Martin discovered bones, specifically those of the lower legs and feet, as well as the animal’s upper jaw and teeth. These fossils are said to be related to the carnivorous theropods, such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors. Theropods have been related with birds and this new fossil’s feet as well as teeth relate it to the extinct carnivores. Also, due to the size and shape of the foot and leg bones, the animal is said to be a running dinosaur about six to eight feet tall. Thousands of miles away from this excavation sight and during the same week, William Hammer and his research team were in the mountains of Antarctica, about thirteen thousand feet, specifically near the Beardmore Glacier. The pelvis to a plant-eating dinosaur was found buried in solid rock. This pelvis is said to belong to a family of the sauropod, such as the brachiosaurus and diplodocus. â€Å"... Hammer and his fellow researchers believe the pelvis- one meter (three feet) across- isfrom a primitive sauropod that represents one of the earlier forms of emerging dinosaur lineage that eventually produced animals more than thirty meters (100 feet) long† (www.nsf.gov 2004). This animal is estimated to be up to seven feet tall and thirty feet long. These findings are important to paleontology as scientists work to discover more about the Earth’s past. These fossils give more insight into the Earth’s environment million’s of years ago. The fact that these fossils may be new species’ that paleontologists were not even aware of shows how little we may know about the history of the world and what other life walked on the Earth.