Canadian Miners Accidentally Discover a Very Well-Preserved 110 Million Year Old Dinosaur

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.

Borealopelta (meaning “northern shield”) is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, B. markmitchelli, named in 2017 by Caleb Brown and his colleagues from a well-preserved specimen known as Suncor nodosaur. © Wikimedia Commons

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.

Holotype of Borealopelta (original), on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada. © Wikimedia Commons

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.

3d restoration of Borealopelta markmitchelli.

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.

Related Posts

Lake тιтicaca

Lake тιтicaca

Lake тιтicaca, the world’s highest lake navigable to large vessels, lying at 12,500 feet (3,810 metres) above sea level in the Andes Mountains of South America, astride the border between Peru to the west and Bolivia to the east….

Chilling pics show mysterious 10,000 year old mummies ‘The Salt Men of Iran’ left frozen in terror from moment they died

Chilling pics show mysterious 10,000 year old mummies ‘The Salt Men of Iran’ left frozen in terror from moment they died

The mummies, the oldest of which is believed to be more than 10,000 years old, have been naturally preserved in a salt mine in Iran. . Many…

World’s first vehicle? Archaeologists uncover 22,000-year-old tracks in New Mexico

A groundbreaking discovery at White Sands National Park in New Mexico suggests that prehistoric humans used primitive transport technology over 20,000 years ago. Scientists have found drag…

7.2 million-Year-Old Pre-Human Fossil A Challenge to Out of Africa?

A new analysis of two 7.2 million-year-old fossils belonging to a hominin species nicknamed “El Graeco” from Mediterranean Europe, suggests that mankind emerged in Europe and not…

What Lies Beneath: The Ships Buried Under San Francisco

Every day in San Francisco, people walk the city’s streets unaware of the history that our concrete jungle holds in its depths. Little do most people know that…

Rock of Ages: The Brownshill Dolmen

The ancient Brownshill Dolmen is an impressive example of a megalithic ‘portal tomb’. This ‘cromlech’ (from the Irish ‘crom’ meaning ‘curved and ‘leac’ meaning ‘slab’) dates from…