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Scientists from the University of Oregon have announced the discovery of a rare dinosaur fossil in Oregon.
(University of Oregon)
Scientists from the University of Oregon have discovered the first confirmed dinosaur bone in Oregon, according to the Fox 12 Oregon.
The bones of the toe belonged to a bipedal dinosaur, herbivore, known to be an ornithopod. It is estimated that it dates back to 103 million years ago, to a geological period that also gave birth to Tyrannosaurus Rex, announced the university.
"This bone was sitting there with all the rocks. That was pretty surprising, "said Greg Retallack scientist of the University of Oregon at the Eugene Register-Guard. "No excavation was necessary. It was just sitting among the ammonites and fossils of coils. "
Retallack found it in eastern Oregon, near the small town of Mitchell.
Illustration of what the ornithopod may have looked like.
(University of Oregon)
The university said it was a rare find as the state was under water for most of the age of the dinosaurs, according to Fox 12.
Retallack said the dinosaur, which was over 20 feet long and weighed nearly a ton, was probably dead on the ground and washed away by the sea.
The discovery was reported last week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a peer-reviewed publication, according to reports.
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