Paleontologists Might Have Discovered a New 'Jurassic World' in Argentina
The Jurassic World has been uncovered and it's in Argentina. It might be a while before the world could see dinosaurs roaming in a deserted island, but according to a report from AFP, palaeontologists revealed to the Ameghiniana online journal that they have found a major Jurassic-era fossil site in Patagonia.
It has been four years after the team discovered the massive 23,000-square-mile site located in Patagonia, Southern Argentina. The site is a treasure trove of valuable fossils that are hundreds of millions of years old.
The team was able to unearth "a wide range of micro and macro organisms" on the site, according to Ignacio Escapa from the Egidio Feruglio Paleontology Museum.
In the AFP report, geologist Juan Garcia Massini of the Regional Center for Scientific Research and Technology Transfer stressed the value of the relics that was uncovered in Argentinia along the Deseado Massif mountain range.
"No other place in the world contains the same amount and diversity of Jurassic fossils," Massini said.
Estimated to be between 140 and 160 million years old, the fossils were found very near the top of the ground due to the erosion that wore down the land over the years. Massini, who headed the group of researchers in the Patagonia site, revealed that it was preserved almost instantly, some even in less than a day.
"You can see the landscape as it appeared in the Jurassic -- how thermal waters, lakes and streams as well as plants and other parts of the ecosystem were distributed," he explained. "You can see how fungi, cyanobacteria and worms moved when they were alive."
The preservation of the fossils on the site was so complete that every rock is a potentially important door to a brand new discovery. According to a report from Agencia CTyS via Inverse, the site had intact remains of early nematodes and insects and more are quite possibly in store for the palaeontologists, who are only beginning to scratch the surface of the Patagonia site.
Massini also told Agencia CTyS that the ground-breaking Patagonia location will be a very important range to be studied by scientists for decades. It is reminiscent of the Rhynie Chert site in Scotland, which has been studied since 1910. Both boasted similar circumstances with an impressive collection of well-preserved fossils.
In fact, Massini revealed that the Patagonia site could yield even better preserved fossils because of the slow erosion of the land.
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