A few years ago, in western Canada, a mining operation led to one of the most important discoveries in the world in recent times. A group of miners accidentally stumbled upon what is possibly the most intact dinosaur carcᴀss science has ever seen.
Nodosaur, a herbivore that measured 18 feet long and weighed about 3,000 pounds, was found in 2011 by a team working 17 miles north of Alberta, Canada, on a mining project. This is a fascinating find as dinosaur fossils are very well preserved; From them we can learn a lot about the life and death of the dinosaur.
Scientists say the remains appear to be only a few weeks old even though the dinosaur died more than 110 million years ago. This is due to the optimal conditions in which they were preserved.
The dinosaur Borealopelta (meaning “shield of the north”) is a genus of nodosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period and was one of many that met their end as a result of being swept away by the waters of a river as it made its way towards the north. the ocean.
Shawn Funk, who operated heavy equipment at Millennium Mine, made the surprising discovery when his excavator collided with something solid. What appeared to be nutty-brown rocks were actually the fossilized remains of a 110-million-year-old nodosaur. The imposing herbivore was intact enough to recover the front half, from the snout to the hips.
Fossilized remains of skin still cover the irregular armor plates that dot the animal’s skull. His right forefoot is to one side, with his five toes extended upward. “I can count the scales on the sole,” Greshko writes.
Due to its rapid underwater burial, the dinosaur looks much like it did millions of years ago. According to paleontologists, the fact that its tissue did not decompose but rather fossilized is extremely rare.
Unlike their close relative, the Ankylosauridae, nodosaurs did not have clubs for splitting shins. Instead, it wore thorny armor to keep predators at bay. The 5.5 meter long dinosaur, which lived during the Cretaceous period, could have been considered the rhinoceros of its time.
