ARLINGTON - Paleontologists have made the most important discovery to date at the Arlington Archosaur Site, a prolific fossil site in North Arlington. The disassembled skull of a crocodile with two and a half inch long teeth that lived nearly 100 million years ago has been unearthed.
"We have over 50 bones exposed," said The University of Texas at Arlington dinosaurs lecturer Derek Main, who heads the project. "They are truly impressive. The teeth measure 6.5 centimeters, larger than my thumb."
To date, more dinosaur fossils have been recovered from the Arlington Archosaur Site, where excavation began little more than a year ago, than from any other site in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The site lies within Cretaceous rocks, formed 95 million years ago when Arlington was the beachhead for a giant sea that divided the continent.
The site has yielded fossils from various species of animals, including dinosaurs. A skeleton of a large herbivorous "duck billed" dinosaur was excavated from the northern hillside at the site. Crocodile fossils are among the most commonly found.
Main said the site is unique because it is a major dinosaur excavation in the middle of a large metropolitan setting and it preserves many fossils from different animals. he site also has fossils from turtles, lungfish, fish and sharks. The excavation of the Arlington Archosaur Site began in the spring of 2008 when the Huffines Group obtained the property and granted land access to UT Arlington.
Saw another, more detailed article about this in UT Arlington Magazine's Winter 2010 issue, which I can type and post later (it's not yet available online) if anyone's interested.
Makes me wish this had been unearthed while I was still a student, I might have been able to go and assist in the excavations. It's also, well, neat, to me, that we're unearthing new fossils just down the road from a Starbucks in the middle of a major multi-city metroplex.
The Gentleman from Texas abstains. Discourteously.
PRFYNAFBTFC-Vice Admiral: MFS Masturbating Walrus :: Omine subtilite Odobenus rosmarus masturbari Soy un perdedor.
"WHO POOPED IN A NORMAL ROOM?!"-Commander William T. Riker
This is the guy they want to use to win over "young people?" Are they completely daft? I'd rather vote for a pile of shit than a Jesus freak social regressive.
Here's hoping that his political career goes down in flames and, hopefully, a hilarious gay sex scandal. -Tanasinn
You can't expect sodomy to ruin every conservative politician in this country. -Battlehymn Republic
Alyrium Denryle wrote:Well Spartan, that is where I have you beat. I CAN assist in the excavations.
Fuck you, too, AD.
Unfortunately, I graduated in 2005 and then moved back to Houston. Otherwise, that is, if I'd found a job in the Metroplex, I'd probably have volunteered as soon as I found out about it and then spent a few weekends digging up fossils.
How is it out there, anyhow? How big are the pieces typically? I mean aside from the big finds. Is it as awesome as it is in my mind? I know that it'd be hard work, but that sort of kind of hard work is... cleansing(?) to me so I wouldn't necessarily mind. Especially if I got lucky and scored a big find like a piece of jawbone or a cranium or a big leg bone, etc., etc.
The Gentleman from Texas abstains. Discourteously.
PRFYNAFBTFC-Vice Admiral: MFS Masturbating Walrus :: Omine subtilite Odobenus rosmarus masturbari Soy un perdedor.
"WHO POOPED IN A NORMAL ROOM?!"-Commander William T. Riker
yeah, AD and Brat can lord over the excavation work powers over all of us. Purhaps in another world they would be superheroes fighting YECs, well maybe they are.
of course my inner nerd has always loved fossils, and loves news of this find. Growing up in hicksville CA, the power of Bronto (even if he was a fake) and T-Rex were just awesome.
The scariest folk song lyrics are "My Boy Grew up to be just like me" from cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin
I once dug up an about 120 million year old fossil shell , about 8 inches diameter in my garden in Austria. Still sitting on my desk as letter weight. Can I join the club?
A minute's thought suggests that the very idea of this is stupid. A more detailed examination raises the possibility that it might be an answer to the question "how could the Germans win the war after the US gets involved?" - Captain Seafort, in a thread proposing a 1942 'D-Day' in Quiberon Bay
LaCroix wrote:I once dug up an about 120 million year old fossil shell , about 8 inches diameter in my garden in Austria. Still sitting on my desk as letter weight. Can I join the club?
I picked up two big chunks of limestone filled with ancient shells on a hunting trip when I was 14. I donated them to my high school though. So I guess so.
Before I forget, is there any interest in the UT Arlington magazine article? I don't mind typing it out so that everybody can read it, but I don't want to, well, bother, if there isn't any.
The Gentleman from Texas abstains. Discourteously.
PRFYNAFBTFC-Vice Admiral: MFS Masturbating Walrus :: Omine subtilite Odobenus rosmarus masturbari Soy un perdedor.
"WHO POOPED IN A NORMAL ROOM?!"-Commander William T. Riker
Another bit is that I like to remind tourists that Calidornia and Mexico used to have Camels, as we have found their remains in the LaBrea tar pits. Most people don't believe this as they think that camels only existed in the Middle East. and southern CA isn't really a desert.
silly people (PS the Ca;ifornia Camel became extinct due to humans before the earth was created foing by TEC estimates vs. carbon dating)
The scariest folk song lyrics are "My Boy Grew up to be just like me" from cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin
