Dinosaur Fossils Reveal New Species And Point To A 'Lost World' In Alaskan Region
Could This Fossil Be The Clue To A 'Lost World' Of Dinosaurs?
Kathryn Snowdon— The Huffington Post UK
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Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that was 30ft long and lived in the Arctic.
Researchers believe there is a "lost world" of dinosaurs in the Alaskan region after uncovering the fossils of the duck-billed dinosaur, called Ugrunaaluk Kuukpikensi, which means "ancient grazer".
The herbivore is believed to have had scales and "Godzilla-like" plates coming out of its back.
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Artist's impression of the Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensi
Experts said the Ugrunaaluk Kuukpikensi would have walked on its back legs, but could crouch on all fours.
"There is a whole different province of dinosaur up there [in Alaska], in fact we believe there is 13 different species of dinosaur up there and just about every single on of them looks a little bit off, relative to dinosaurs that lived at the same time down in Alberta, in Montanna.
"And so this has led us to believe that... everything up there was Arctic adapted, and this suggests that there was an Arctic province, basically what we think we are finding is a lost world, a lost world of dinosaurs out there that we didn't realise existed."
A collaborative team between Florida State University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks made the discovery and have been working in the region for the past five years.
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A sample of frozen bone found after researchers excavated it from the Liscomb Bed in the Prince Creek Formation near Nuiqsut, Alaska
Ugrunaaluk Kuukpikensis is closely related to Edmontosauras, another duck-billed dinosaur found further south near Alberta, Montana, and South Dakota.
Several structural differences led researchers to determine that it was a different species.
Mr Erickson said it was "very exciting" to have discovered a new dinosaur - particularly in the Arctic.
The animal had a big, broad bill, and would have grazed low-lying plants, which it would grind them up "in a horse-like manner".
Illustration of the High Arctic camel on Ellesmere Island during the Pliocene warm period, about 3.5 million years ago. The camels lived in a boreal-type forest. The habitat includes larch trees and the depiction is based on records of plant fossils found at nearby fossil deposits. (credit:Julius Csotonyi)
(02 of08)
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Close-up of a fragment of the High Arctic camel fossil lying on the ground at the Fyles Leaf Bed site in 2008. The fossil looks very similar to wood. The fossil evidence for the animal consists of about 30 bone fragments, which together form part of a limb bone of a Pliocene Epoch camel. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)
(03 of08)
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The fossil bones of the High Arctic camel laid out in Natalia Rybczynski's lab at the Canadian Museum of Nature. The fossil evidence consists of about 30 bone fragments, which together form part of a limb bone of a camel. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)
(04 of08)
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Natalia Rybczynski holds a small fossil bone in one hand and examines it using a small magnifying glass. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)
(05 of08)
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View of Strathcona Fiord from the top of the Fyles Leaf Bed site, the area where the bones of the High Arctic camel were found. Note the dark brown peat layer just below the castellated ridge. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)
(06 of08)
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(From right) Natalia Rybczynski, John Gosse, research assistant Marisa Gilbert and graduate student Travis Mitchell survey the uppers reaches of the Fyles Leaf Bed site in 2008 amidst gusts of wind-blown sand. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)
(07 of08)
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The research team's camp at the Fyles Leaf Bed Site on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, near Strathcona Fiord during the 2008 field season.
(08 of08)
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Geologist John Gosse from Dalhousie University collects samples at the lower levels of the Fyles Leaf Bed site on Ellesmere Island in 2008. Using a technique called terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating, which dates the sands in the area where the camel bones were recovered, he determined their age to be at least 3.4 million years old, from the mid-Pliocene Epoch. (credit:Martin Lipman / Canadian Museum of Nature)