MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - A team of German and Mexican archaeologists have discovered what they believe is the largest dinosaur cemetery in the world in the Mexican state of Coahuila, Der Spiegel reports.
Researchers from the University of Heidelberg, the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe and the Desert Museum in Saltillo, Mexico, have found fossils of 14 animals on a small piece of land 50 by 200 meters. They uncovered the skeletons and bones of 15 more animals a few kilometers away. “I know no other place where so many dinosaurs have been found on such a small area,” said Wolfgang Stinnesbeck from the University of Heidelberg.
The area, where the fossils have been unearthed, is inhospitable. But what now is a desert approximately 70 million years ago was a blossoming piece of land. “There was a huge delta here and several rivers were flowing into the Gulf of Mexico,” said paleontologist Eberhard Frey from the University of Heidelberg. “The ecosystem here was vibrant. Apart from dinosaur bones we have found four species of turtles, remains of a small crocodile and teeth of early mammals,” he added.
“Our findings are very promising, large-scale excavation here would be worthwhile,” Frey stressed. For instance, researchers have found Theropod footprints not far from the dig site. Some of the largest predators in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were among the Theropod dinosaurs.
