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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW WHAT “STEGOSAURUS” IS…...?

Of course you do…..and if not:

There’s exciting news on the Stegosaurus front!

A Stegosaurus fossil has been discovered in Europe, marking the first time the famous plated dinosaur has been found outside of North America….The scientists unearthed the new Stegosaurus fossils—which included a tooth and parts of the animal’s spinal column and leg bones—near the city of Batalha, in central Portugal. Preliminary analyses show the fossils to be indistinguishable from a species previously found only in North America, called Stegosaurus ungulatus.

And that characteristic: “indistinguishable from a species previously found only in North America” is a bit of a conundrum….because it indicates that these were a single population. But, how could that be? Pangaea is believed to have broken up - click the link below to see an animation of the breakup - and how could these 20-foot long dinosaurs have gotten over the seas from continent to continent?

At times during this million-years long transformation, sea levels rose and fell, and land bridges occasionally emerged between the newly sundered landmasses. During times of connectedness, dinosaurs like Stegosaurus [image] would have been able to cross.

Land-bridges?! This answer isn’t liked much….especially not by geologists. But, it’s the best we’ve got, so far…..

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/06 at 05:44 PM

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