Celebrating “Our Coastal Treasures” Lyme Regis Fossil Festival Starts

The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival starts in earnest today with a special day set aside for visits from Primary schools.  Lots of events are planned for the Bank Holiday weekend (the Festival runs from Friday 3rd May until Sunday 5th).  This is the eighth event that has taken place since the inaugural fossil festival in 2005.  There are lots of events planned, hands-on science, Jurassic themed art for all the family to have a go at, the chance to meet fossil experts, talks, shows, even a travelling cinema shaped like a Pliosaur.

The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival Starts Today

Fossil Festival starts today.

Visitors to the picturesque town of Lyme Regis will be able to learn about fossils from top experts, see amazing stone balancing (we have seen this and it has to be seen to be believed) and hear about some of the latest scientific studies being carried out by top academic institutions.  The main theme for this year’s festival is “Our Coastal Treasures”.  The Fossil Festival will explore the marine habitats that produced the very different types of geological formations seen on the Jurassic coast.

One word of advice, visitors to the beach should avoid the cliff areas as these are exceptionally dangerous at the moment.  The heavy rain last summer, coupled with recent dry weather has left much of the coastline in a fragile state.  There have already been a number of landslides, leaving a considerable amount of debris on the beach.  On Tuesday evening, a twenty metre section of chalk cliff, east of Lyme Regis, at St Oswald’s Bay collapsed into the sea.  The coastguard and Dorset police have warned visitors to the area to “exercise due care, behave responsibly and to observe all warning and diversion notices”.

Wishing all the volunteers who help make this such a super event the very best for the next few days.  Fingers crossed for some decent weather.

Fossils from Cretaceous Strata to be Found at Lyme Regis

In December 2001, the Dorset and East Devon coast (southern England), was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO.  This made this part of England’s coastline the country’s first natural World Heritage Site, ranking this part of the world alongside the likes of the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands.

Ninety-Five miles of stunning coastline from Orcombe Point at Exmouth heading east to the Old Harry Rocks, which marks a passage in the Earth’s geological history from around 250 million years ago to approximately 65 million years ago, a time known as the Mesozoic Era.  Places like Lyme Regis and Charmouth are great places to find Jurassic fossils, amazing remains of marine creatures such as ammonites, belemnites and crinoids (sea lilies).  However, with all the bad weather that the Dorset coastline has endured over the last two years or so, the beaches in the area are proving to be a happy hunting ground for some remarkable Cretaceous aged fossil specimens.

Brandon Lennon, a highly respected professional fossil collector from the Lyme  Regis area reports that with all the wet weather a lot of the Cretaceous beds from higher up the cliffs, overlying the older Jurassic aged strata have deposited younger fossil material onto the beaches surrounding Lyme Regis.  Land slips and mud slides have left large amounts of flint and chert rocks strewn about the beach.  Keen eyed fossil hunters, perhaps on an organised fossil walk with Brandon, have been able to find lots of Cretaceous aged fossils.

Some fine specimens of irregular sea urchins (Echinoids) (irregular sea urchins tend to have less circular and more oval tests), have been found including heart shaped specimens – Micraster sp.  One lucky fossil hunter (Iain) displays his sea urchin find in the picture below.

Fossils from Cretaceous Chalk Deposits Being Found at Lyme Regis

Cretaceous chalk fossils found at Lyme Regis

Picture Credit: Brandon Lennon

Fossil expert Brandon commented:

“You literally see a  lot of Cretaceous aged debris scattered all across beach.  Beaches to the west and the east of the town [Lyme Regis] have been affected.  Some fine examples of Micraster sp, are being picked up from the mid beach areas.  One lady found a beautiful shark’s tooth in near perfect condition when sieving material on the beach.”

The bad weather and the subsequent land slides have provided fossil collectors with a rare opportunity to explore these beaches for younger Cretaceous aged marine fossils, from a time when much of the land we know today as the United Kingdom was covered by a warm, tropical sea.

A Close up of the Sea Urchin

Fossil finds at Lyme Regis.

Picture Credit: Brandon Lennon

This fossil has been preserved as an internal mould in the flint, or the Lyme Bay agate,  the calcite plates of the specimen have been lost but this is a terrific and rare fossil find for this part of the world.  We at Everything Dinosaur have just one specimen of an irregular sea urchin from the Cretaceous beds of Lyme Regis, plus some trace fossils of worm casts from the same deposits but our sea urchin specimen is not as well-preserved as this fine example.

With the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival set to get under way in a few days time (May 3rd until May 5th, it looks like there will be lots of interesting fossils to study and view.    The theme for this years festival is “Our Treasures”, it looks like it is not just Jurassic aged fossils that people can find on the beaches, some lucky fossil hunters might just find themselves a lovely sea-urchin fossil too.

One word of advice, these fossils are being found on the beaches as the unstable cliffs collapse and there is still a risk of landslides.  It might be advisable to take a conducted tour of the Lyme Regis beaches with a professional fossil hunter and guide such as Brandon Lennon.

To read more about Brandon Lennon’s fossil walks: Lyme Regis Fossil Walks

Looking for a “Lost Continent” Under the Indian Ocean

Madagascar, may not be the largest island in the world (official estimates place it fourth), but it is regarded as the oldest.  Such has been the long period of isolation between Madagascar and Africa/India that something like 85% of the indigenous fauna and flora of the island are found nowhere else on Earth.  There are the famous lemurs of course, but something like half of the island’s bird species are exclusive to Madagascar and more than sixty percent of all the plant life.  This island was once part of a huge southern super-continent called Gondwana, but the history of this landmass goes back a lot further – into the Cryptozoic. Our planet is a world in constant motion when one considers the geological time-scale.  A patchwork of interlocking crustal plates carry the continents  and these are in motion with each other.  These movements throughout deep time have changed the position of landmasses in relation to each other, great oceans have opened up and then become closed again.  Scientists have identified a sliver of ancient land that once joined India and Madagascar together.

During the Cretaceous period, this landmass (Gondwana), which consisted of Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, India and of course the land that was to become Madagascar, began to break up.  From a vertebrate palaeontology perspective this break up of the super-continent may have led to the increased diversification amongst many terrestrial vertebrates as communities of animals and ecosystems became separated and new habitats formed.

Sometime towards the end of the Mesozoic (the end of the Cretaceous – Turonian to Coniacian faunal stages),  Madagascar started to split away from the continental landmass that was to move northwards, collide with the southern flank of the Asian continental plate and become India, Madagascar was finally isolated and all alone.

The Break Up of Gondwana (southern Super-continent)

The breaking up of a super-continent.

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

However, a team of international scientists, including researchers from the United Kingdom claim to have identified remains of the ancient landmass that once linked India and Madagascar together, quite a feat when one considers this research involved examining tiny sand grains on a Mauritian beach as well as exploring hundreds of thousands of tonnes of igneous rock on the floor of the Indian Ocean.  This continental fragment, once part of Gondwana is referred to as Mauritia, it detached some sixty million years ago (Palaeogene), becoming buried under vast quantities of volcanic rock.

The theory of plate tectonics suggests that rising plumes of hot, molten material from deep within the Earth’s mantle under what was to become Madagascar began to stretch and weaken the planet’s crust.  Eventually, the crust rifted apart and molten material filled in this rift.  This led to the separation between India and the land we now know as Madagascar.

Writing in the academic journal “Nature Geoscience”, the international team of geoscientists suggest that such continental fragments may occur more frequently than previously estimated.  Hot-spots in the Earth’s crust being caused by mantle plumes situated underneath the volcanic islands of Reunion and Marion in the Indian Ocean seem to have played a role in the break up of the final remnants of Gondwana and the formation of the Indian Ocean.  If this rifting apart due to the affect of mantle plumes lies at the frontier of a continental landmass, in this instance the land that was once India and Madagascar joined together, fragments of this land may be broken off and trapped within the expanding area of molten rock.

Scientists from South Africa, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom examined in microscopic detail samples of sand taken from the volcanic beaches of the island of Mauritius.  The sand grains could be dated back to a volcanic eruption some nine million years ago but some of the minerals they contained proved to be very much older.  Semi-precious minerals known as zircons indicate an origin in continental crust and they are extremely old, being dated between 1.97 billion years and 600 million years old.  The researchers concluded that these grains were the remnants of an ancient area of land that had been dragged up to surface of the island during the relatively recent (in geological time), volcanic activity.  Professor Torsvik, one of the authors of the research stated that he believed that parts of the landmass called Mauritia could be found about ten thousand metres down beneath the island of Mauritius and under the Indian Ocean.

Extensive dating techniques were applied to the zircon samples in order to establish the age of this material.  What was once thought to be geology representing the trail taken by the Reunion hot-spot as the crust moved, is now being interpreted as ancient pieces of a continent that long since perished and ended up being covered by igneous rocks as a result of the activity of the Reunion mantle plume.

Dating techniques such as radio-carbon dating and magnetostratigraphy are helping geologists to understand more about the age of rocks.  Plate movements have had a huge impact on the evolution and distribution of life.  Landmasses converging brings different communities together in competition, whilst diverging landmasses such as that which took place with the break up of Gondwana separates organisms.  Fossil of Lystrosaurus, a synapsid reptile known from Late Permian to Early Triassic strata have been found in Antarctica, India, Madagascar and Africa indicating that these land masses were joined together in the past.  Lystrosaurs were a very successful group of terrestrial reptiles, one of the most numerous animals on Earth for much of the Early Triassic.

A Very Numerous and Widespread Resident of a Gondwana – Lystrosaurs

A prehistoric pig, a very successful synapsid reptile.

Picture Credit: Telegraph/Graphics

We suspect that holiday makers, sunning themselves on the beautiful beaches of Mauritius are unaware that the sand they are sitting on provides evidence of an ancient landmass, other remnants of which lie buried under the vast Indian Ocean.

International Team Establish Most Accurate Date Yet for Extraterrestrial Impact

If you were able to travel back in time, one part of Earth’s history that would be best avoided would be 66,038,000 years ago plus or minus 11,000 years, as this period has been identified by a team of international researchers as being the time of the impact of a huge object from space that aided the extinction of the Dinosauria and the demise of about seventy percent of all land animals.

Scientists from the Berkeley Geochronology Centre (University of California), in co-operation with colleagues from Glasgow University and Vrije University (Amsterdam, Holland), have concluded that an asteroid, meteorite or possibly even an object such as a comet collided with the Earth approximately 66.038 million years ago.  Although this single event may not have been the cause of the mass extinction, the scientists conclude that if the extraterrestrial impact was not wholly responsible, it would have contributed significantly to the global extinction event.  Based on the dateline evidence that the team established, the impact of a large extraterrestrial object in the Gulf of Mexico area could have proved to have been the final blow that saw off the Dinosauria, marine reptiles and Pterosaurs.

Commenting on the research, which has just been published in the academic journal “Science”, one of the Californian based authors of the paper stated that the extinction and the impact are synchronous to each other and therefore it is highly probable that the impact played a major role in the mass extinction.  In essence, the impact from outer space and the subsequent environmental and climatic chaos that followed, may have been the “tipping point” for the dinosaurs, finally leading to their extinction.

Accurately Dating the Late Cretaceous Earth Impact Event

A contributory factor in the mass extinction?

It was father and son Luis and Walter Alvarez who first published a theory (1980), stating that a thin layer of clay enriched with the rare Earth element iridium found at the boundary between Uppermost Cretaceous strata and younger Cenozoic deposits marked the impact of a large, extraterrestrial object.  It was these two American scientists who first claimed that this was evidence of a meteorite or some other object from outer space colliding with the Earth.  Although the American scientists did not know where the impact actually occurred.  This was resolved when the Chicxulub crater, a geological feature that had been first identified in the 1970s, was more thoroughly examined in the 1990s and it was established that this feature had been created around the time of the end of the Cretaceous.  The object, measuring around ten kilometres in diameter and travelling at around thirty kilometres a second smashed into the Gulf of Mexico, close to what is now the village of Chicxulub on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.

The impact was cataclysmic, some scientists estimate that the collision released energy equivalent to 100 million hydrogen bombs.  A crater was blasted into the Earth more than 100 kilometres wide and up to 12 kilometres deep.  Virtually all life within thousands of miles of the impact zone would have been annihilated almost immediately.  Some 50,000 tonnes of rock was thrown up into the Earth’s atmosphere and huge quantities of sulphur was released, which when mixed with water droplets then fell to Earth as vast amounts of dilute sulphuric acid (acid rain), destroying what vegetation had survived the earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires.

This new research helps to clarify any potential concerns over the timing of this catastrophic event in the history of life on Earth.  This event seems to have taken place at around the time of the mass extinction, not a long time before or indeed after the extinction event.  The impact and the mass extinction seem to be contemporaneous with each other.

Some scientists have argued that there may have been two extraterrestrial impacts at or around 65-66 million years ago, whilst others have provided evidence to suggest that the dinosaurs and other large, land vertebrates lived for approximately 300,000 years after the impact event.  This new research may not end the debate on the Cretaceous mass extinction event but at least it allows scientists an opportunity to build up a more accurate timeline of events at the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs.

Tektites, glassy spheres of molten rock that had been created at the moment of impact and hurled up into the atmosphere to later fall to Earth formed an important element in this new dating study.  If this material along with other elements that make up the famous K-T boundary between Mesozoic aged and Cenozoic aged deposits could be dated accurately then a more precise date for the actual impact could be established.  Part of the scientific team travelled to Haiti to collect tektites whilst other researchers explored the Upper Cretaceous sediments such as volcanic ash laid down in the famous Hell Creek Formation of Montana (United States).  Samples were gathered and analysed in laboratories using a dating technique called “argon to argon dating”.

The samples were analysed in laboratories in the United States, “argon-argon dating” was used to determine their ages more precisely.  Argon-argon dating is a form of radiometric dating.  Radioactive elements decay and have isotopes which allows scientists to date the formation of certain elements within igneous rocks, thereby making it possibly to establish a chronology of the Earth’s history.  This dating technology uses the fact that naturally radioactive potassium decays into argon at a very regular rate.  Determining the ratio of these two elements in a sample provides a geophysicist with a method of calculating the age of the sample material.

University of Glasgow researchers conducted their own independent analysis of the samples and they confirmed the results of the American research team, thus the researchers were able to establish a new, more accurate date for the Yucatan impact.

The team are keen to point out that this single, terrible impact event was not the sole cause of the mass extinction.  Towards the end of the geological period known as the Cretaceous there seems to have been a number of other factors in play all contributing to climate change.  The sustained and immense volcanism which occurred in what was to become India would have had a major impact on the Earth’s climate.  The enormous basaltic lava flows of western and central India – known as the Deccan Traps, indicate that the most violent and devastating eruptions are dated very closely to the mass extinction event.  This geological activity would have had a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and this activity could have been a causal factor in the mass extinction.  The international research team hope to be able to use the argon-argon dating techniques to accurately map and date the Deccan Traps.  In doing this, the team will be helping to build up a more complete picture of the series of events that led to the demise of the dinosaurs.

To read an article that explores the possible range of contributory factors involved in the Cretaceous mass extinction event: Exploring the Cretaceous Mass Extinction

The Landscape after the Ice Had Retreated

A recent visit to a local nature reserve allowed team members to get an idea of the landscape of the Midlands of England a couple of thousand years after the retreat of the last ice sheets over the British Isles.  The last glacial period ended around 10,000 years ago, having lasted for approximately the preceding 100,000 years.  During this last period of intense cold, ice sheets covered much of northern England, as well as most of Wales and Scotland.  The extent of the ice sheets over this latter part of the Pleistocene epoch did vary as the temperature fluctuated but at their greatest extent some 22,00o years ago, ice covered virtually the whole of Ireland, ninety percent of Wales and as far south as Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands of England.

With the gradual warming of the climate, plants and trees soon became established once the ice sheets had retreated.  Plants and animals have migrated in and out of the British Isles as a land bridge between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe existed for a few thousand years, before melting ice raised the sea levels and the British Isles was formed.  About thirty species of large trees had become established across the country and these are now regarded as native to the British Isles.

Post Glacial Landscape of Cheshire

A wet and boggy landscape.

The midlands of Britain soon became forested with oak, ash, and birch trees forming a significant proportion of the woodlands.  In Cheshire, (where Everything Dinosaur is based), the land was only sparsely forested as the Cheshire plain which was only about 25 metres above sea level remained very boggy and marshy.  Coarse grasses, plants that liked damp environments predominated along with reeds and rushes.  Animals such as wolves, bears, deer and wild boar lived in this environment.  Tree species were mainly birch, ask, oak and the occasional conifer.

Humans have inhabited the United Kingdom for the last 750,000 years, migrating into this part of Europe as ice sheets retreated in the warmer interglacial periods and then retreating when the ice sheets returned with the onset of a period of intense cold.

The last glacial period at the very end of the Pleistocene epoch is known as the Devensian, it was named in honour of the tribe of ancient Britons that lived on the borders of Wales and England close to the river Dee which runs through the county town of Cheshire (Chester).

Fossils are Abundant in London – If you Know Where to Look

When asked where to go fossil hunting many people advise a trip to the seaside to explore cliffs or perhaps a trip to a local quarry to study the sediment being exposed, but ironically if you know what to look for and where to look, a trip to a big city can yield a surprising number of exciting fossil discoveries.

A visit to London is no exception.  This city may not be the obvious choice for a person to go fossil hunting but amongst the paved streets and buildings, an observant palaeontologist can find some remarkable evidence of ancient life.  London itself, has yielded many important fossil discoveries the London clay preserves a sub-tropical, estuarine environment recording a rich diversity of life including crocodiles, turtles, birds, mammals and a number of plant fossils from a time after the extinction of the dinosaurs.  The fossilised bones of Pleistocene lions and hippos have been discovered by workmen digging under Trafalgar Square, but you don’t need to excavate or even to carry a geological hammer to find fossils in a place like London.  All you need are a sharp pair of eyes and a camera to record your discoveries.

Take a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral for example.  Whilst visitors are admiring the dome and the beautiful facia of the cathedral designed by Sir Christopher Wren, take a moment to examine the steps that lead up to the main entrance.  The polished flagstones that can be found at the top of the steps leading up to the main thoroughfare contain a number of very well-preserved specimens of ancient cephalopods.  The stone for these flags came from Sweden.  They represent marine strata laid down something like 480 million years ago in the Early Ordovician geological period (Tremadocian faunal stage).  Preserved as fossils in these stones are the remains of straight-shelled Nautiloids.  Nautiloids were actively swimming creatures distantly related to octopi and squid that lived in straight-chambered shells.  Some of these creatures evolved into huge predators, the first sea monsters that ever lived, with genera such as Cameroceras and Endoceras reaching lengths approaching ten metres.  These animals are only distantly related to the modern Nautilus but they had basically the same body plan.  Their long conical shells were divided internally into many chambers, these were joined by a long tube that was used to control the amount of water in each of the chambers (siphuncle).  The largest,  end chamber housed the actual animal with its head, powerful beak and grasping tentacles.

Ordovician Nautiloids at St Paul’s Cathedral

Fossils to be seen in London

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur (Geologist provides foot for scale)

The fossils seen on the steps of St Paul’s do not represent huge specimens but the individual chambers (septa) of the shells can be clearly made out as the specimens are viewed in cross-section. Some of these fossils are more than thirty centimetres in length.

Much of the stone used to build the Cathedral is Portland stone.  This limestone, quarried from Portland in Dorset, was formed in a shallow, tropical Jurassic sea towards the end of this geological period (Tithonian faunal stage).  This type of stone adorns many of the well-known public buildings of London.   The white/grey limestone has been used as a building material in the United Kingdom since Roman times.  The splendid Guildhall of London, built in the fifteenth Century, is one such building and a careful examination of the stone blocks that make up the facia of the building opening out into the main courtyard, can yield some fossil finds for an observant palaeontologist.  The internal moulds of gastropods (snails), their argonite shells long dissolved away have been preserved, these are known as “Portland screws” as they are locally abundant in Portland limestone.  Alongside the gastropods the moulds and casts of bivalves and other invertebrate creatures can be clearly made out.  Many tourists visit the Guildhall to admire the galleries and the treasures they contain, but to a keen fossil hunter, there are 150 million year old treasures to be found in the stones that make up the building itself.

Evidence of Jurassic Invertebrates at the Guildhall

Looking for fossils of bivalves at the Guildhall

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Cross the river Thames using Waterloo Bridge and take a little time to examine the coping stones that make up the supports to the pedestrian railings.  This bridge may be used by thousands of commuters and tourists each day, but how many of them stop to look carefully at the building stones on the side of the walkways.  These stones are also limestone, but they are not Portland stone.  However, they do contain fossil evidence of a catastrophe that devastated a marine environment during the age of the dinosaurs.  The limestone material represents Upper Jurassic strata and a close examination will reveal that it is packed with hundreds of fossils of marine invertebrates, all smashed up and jumbled together.  This sediment has preserved the devastation caused by a major storm event such as a tsunami that destroyed a marine ecosystem.  This habitat was probably close to shore and the shallow seascape took the fall force of huge natural disaster such as a hurricane or a tsunami.  The remains of bivales such as oysters can be clearly seen, the shells mostly a bleached white against the grey limestone matrix.  The remains of the calcite skeletons secreted by coralline algae can be made out as well, evidence of the destruction of a marine ecosystem preserved in the walls of a famous London landmark.

Fossils Preserved in the Limestone Used to Build Waterloo Bridge

Jurassic Fossils on Waterloo Bridge

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

It is not just London where such fossils can be found, many forms of sedimentary rock are used as building materials and with a keen eye fossils that record evidence of ancient life can be found at the very heart of big cities and towns.

You don’t need to go to a quarry or the seaside to go fossil hunting, next time you are in a big city take a close look at the stone building materials that are around you, or that you are walking on.  After all, most of these hidden treasures go unnoticed by the thousands of people who walk by them every day.

More Fossils found on Waterloo Bridge

Fossil Hunting in the Middle of London

 Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Deposits Magazine Reviewed

Chance to review the latest issue of Deposits magazine (issue 31), our copy has been in the office for a few weeks, all the team members have been through it but now we have time to write a proper review at this popular magazine aimed at fossil hunters and geologists.

Once again this edition of the quarterly magazine features a wide range of topics, everything from Trilobites from Portugal to straight-tusked elephants from northern Greece.  It is the elephant that features on the front cover, it is a spectacular life-size model, at first glance it looks like the animal is alive, but inside there is a highly informative article all about the Siatista Historical Palaeontological Collection and its collection of important elephant fossils.

Elephas antiquus (Straight-tusked Elephant) at the Museum

Superb Model made to new Greek Museum

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dr. Neale Monks contributes with an intriguing look at the mass extinction events that have been recorded in the geological record.  The article also provides information on those types of organisms that have survived extinction events, ferns, lungfish and the Chelonians for example.

One of the regular features in the magazine is the news snippets section.  This provides a brief synopsis of stories that have appeared in the media over the last three months or so.  There is also a handy glossary of terms which provides a useful reference.  Dr. David Penney and Dr. David Green have written a fascinating piece about the sub-fossils in copal.  This is illustrated by some amazing photographs showing some of the creatures that have been trapped in this precursor or amber.

There is even a feature on the geology of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, the first part of what promises to be  very detailed tour of the geology of this part of the world.  The Dromaeosaur Utahaptor is given a make-over, fossil collectors finds are displayed, the geo-diversity of Jamaica is explored and there is an informative review of the book which provides a guide to the geology of Dorset – so much in the news recently due to the number of landslides that have occurred in that part of the south coast.

Field Workers Intend to Increase Security at Dinosaur Dig Sites

Following a number of incidents of fossil thefts and deliberate vandalism from Canadian vertebrate fossil sites, scientists are taking steps to try to protect the precious fossils that they find. Dinosaur fossils can take many months or even years to be excavated and removed from a dig site. In many cases, each fragment of bone or piece of a tooth has to be carefully excavated and then protected with glues and resins before they can be taken from the location. This painstaking process can take many hundreds of man hours to complete and as a result many fossils are only partially mapped and prepared in each season. The site is often carefully covered over so that palaeontologists can return to the area to complete their work later on that year or even in subsequent years.

These locations, although very often to be found in remote areas attract trophy hunters and smugglers who are keen to remove fossils so that they can be sold illegally. However, some fossils have been deliberately vandalised as they lie in the ground awaiting further excavation work.

Hadrosaur Specimen Destroyed

It was reported that an eight metre long, duck-billed dinosaur specimen found in the Pipestone Creek area near Grande Prairie in northwestern Alberta, Canada was smashed up and virtually destroyed a couple of months ago. This follows on from a number incidents reported to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about dinosaur fossil thefts and damage to vertebrate fossils as they lie in their fossil locations.

To read more about the Pipestone Creek incident: Vandals in Alberta damage Duck-Billed Dinosaur Fossils

Palaeontologists and field teams are now trying to work together to help protect their rare and delicate fossil finds. The problem is most palaeontology is carried out on a small budget, usually money allocated to a dig site from the bursar of a Natural History Museum. Often there are simply not the resources available to mount video security, infra-red cameras or to employ security staff twenty-four hours a day.

The Need for Security on Dig Sites

Keep up the Vigil!

Help from Landowners and Volunteers

Scientists have requested that the land owners where fossils have been found, keep a close look out for trespassers or suspicious activity in the area. Their vigilance can help prevent attacks on the fossil finds. Volunteers have been called for in some areas to help deter thefts and acts of vandalism by getting people to camp out close to the site. Although, museum staff try their best to protect a location, the presence of local volunteers camping nearby would deter all but the most determined attacker.

Keeping Dig Sites Secret

One of the best ways to protect a new fossil discovery is to keep it a secret. By limiting the number of people who are informed of a dinosaur fossil discovery, scientists hope to minimise the risk that this information might fall into the wrong hands and lead to site damage or theft.

Public education can help to reduce the problem. In many countries, including Canada, the taking of fossil material or other artefacts is illegal and fines in excess of $40,000 Canadian dollars may be levied or even a term in prison. Palaeontologists believe that the vandalism may not be a deliberate attempt to destroy the fossils but the botched efforts of amateurs trying to steal the fossils either as souvenirs or to sell on.

Torrential Rain Causes Flooding Threat and Makes Cliffs Dangerous

Heavy rainfall has led to a number of swollen rivers and subsequent flooding in many parts of the UK.  For the Dorset town of Lyme Regis, famous for its beaches and the fossils that can be found along the shore, the recent rain could make the cliffs even more unstable.  There have already been a number of rockfalls, particularly on Monmouth Beach.  A video shot by our chum Brandon Lennon of the river Lym in spate gives an impression as to just how much rain has fallen in the area over recent days.

River Lym (Lyme Regis) Dangerously High

Picture Credit: Brandon Lennon

Brandon very kindly sent us some pictures of landslides and rock falls that occurred on the beaches of Lyme Regis and we wrote a short article about the dangers of fossil hunting in the area in the present conditions.

To read this article warning of the dangers: Bad Weather at Lyme Regis leads to Dangerous Cliffs

Brandon reports that the torrential rain led to another substantial land slip on Monmouth Beach on Saturday.

Frequent Rock Falls at Lyme Regis

Dangerous Conditions for Beachcombers

Picture Credit: Brandon Lennon

We have put an arrow on the picture so that the person in the photograph can be seen.  This gives an idea of the scale of the rock fall.

The current weather is making fossil collecting on the beaches around Lyme Regis very hazardous.  At Everything Dinosaur we would urge visitors to keep away from the cliffs and perhaps the best way to enjoy a fossil hunting trip is to take advantage of a guided tour with a professional fossil collector who knows the tides and the beaches in the area very well.

Brandon Lennon provides guided fossil hunting walks, to read more about this activity: Lyme Regis Fossil Walks

Parts of the UK have already experienced the wettest June on record, July looks to be continuing the trend with the weather forecast for much of the country indicating that further periods of prolonged downpours are to be expected.

Joint Swedish/Argentinian Research Team Report on Dinosaur Egg Discovery

A team of Swedish and Argentinian scientists have reported discovering the fossilised remains of a type of bird-like dinosaur in southern Argentina (Patagonia).  In a first for South America, the fossilised hindlimb has been found in association with the pair of eggs, indicating that these eggs had not yet been laid when the female dinosaur which carried them met her end.

The eggs, with their pimple-like texture have been associated with the fossilised hindlimb and identified as being the eggs of a new type of bird-like dinosaur known as Bonapartenykus ultimus – classified as a type of Alvarezsaurid.

A Picture of the Fossilised Egg

Dinosaur Eggs laid in Pairs - Apt for Easter a story about Eggs.

Picture Credit: Fernando Novas

The Alvarezsaurids are one of the most bizarre groups of dinosaurs known to science.  These fleet-footed, bipedal dinosaurs had compact bodies, long legs, long slender tails and narrow skulls.  The arms and claws of these relatively small dinosaurs are unique amongst the Order Dinosauria.  The humerus is relatively short but the ulna (one of the bones in humans between the elbow and wrist) is massive.  The claw bone of the single digit is almost as big as the ulna.  The fact that in most Alvarezsaurids the enormous ulna projects well back from the elbow joint suggests very powerful leverage.  Scientists remain unsure as to what these strong, single-clawed arms were used for but it has been suggested that these dinosaurs could have broken into the nests of termites and other social insects just as the ant-eaters in South America do today.

Of all the known types of dinosaur, the Alvarezsaurids have the most bird-like skeletons of all.  The bird-like anatomical features include the specialised forelimbs, fused ankle bones, a prominent furcula (breast bone) and narrow skulls.

Fossils of these strange, cursorial dinosaurs are known from Argentina and from eastern Asia, indicating that this particular group of prehistoric animals had a wide geographic distribution.  The earliest Alvarezsaurid fossils date from the Late Cretaceous (90 million years ago), as these early Alvarezsaurid fossils have been found in South America, it suggest that this group evolved in the southern hemisphere before radiating out northwards.

Bonapartenykus ultimus has been named and described based on the post-cranial fossil remains found at the dig site.  The fossils come from the Allen Formation of the Río Negro in north-western Patagonia (Argentina).  The fossils include dorsal vertebrae (back bones), pelvic bones and the hind limbs.  B. ultimus has been further classified into a new clade of Alvarezsaurid termed the Patagonykinae – a family of South American Alvarezsaurids that show anatomical characteristics mid-way between more primitive forms known from South America and advanced Alvarezsaurids such as Mononykus olecranus known from Upper Cretaceous strata of Mongolia.

An Artist’s Illustration of Bonapartenykus ultimus

Dinosaur Nest Found in Patagonia

Picture Credit: Gabriel Lio

Commenting on this discovery, regarded as unique, Dr. Martin Kundrát of Uppsala University (Sweden) stated:

“What makes the discovery unique are the two eggs preserved near articulated bones of the hindlimb.  This is the first time the eggs are found in a close proximity to the skeletal remains of an Alvarezsaurid dinosaur.”

The eggs were discovered in a joint Swedish/Argentinian expedition to the region in search of dinosaur fossils back in December 2010. The field team consisted of scientists from Sweden’s Uppsala University and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales.

At an estimated 2.6 metres long, B. ultimus is one of the largest dinosaurs of this type found to date.  The fossilised remains also indicate that basal forms of the Alvarezsaurid clade survived in Argentina to at least seventy million years ago, towards the end of the Cretaceous geological period.

Bonapartenykus ultimus represents the latest survivor of its kind known from landmass called Gondwanaland, the southern landmass in the Mesozoic Era, the researchers state.  Despite the absence of skull material to help give the scientists a more accurate impression of what this dinosaur looked like, reconstructions have been made based on those fossils found and by comparing the remains to Patagonykus puertai – a closely related Alvarezsaurid from the Nequen Province of Argentina.

In a paper published in the scientific journal “Cretaceous Research” the scientists propose that the two eggs may have been inside the oviducts of the female when this animal died.  Other finds of eggshells in the vicinity indicate that some eggs were incubated and contained embryos at a later stage of development.  This find adds weight to the theory that unlike birds, which have just one oviduct, dinosaurs had two oviducts.  However, just like many birds, dinosaurs would have probably laid a clutch of eggs over several days.   The eggs seem to be larger than hens eggs, with an estimated circumference of around twenty centimetres.

The eggs had a relatively rough, outer texture, a sort of pimple-like outer surface.  A microscopic analysis of the fossilised eggs found in association with the hindlimb indicate that the eggs had been contaminated by fungi.  This is the first instance recorded in the fossil record of fungal contamination of dinosaur eggs.  It is likely that this contamination occurred after the female had died and the corpse had begun to rot out on the Cretaceous plain where this mother-to-be met her death.