Paleontologists have discovered the worst place on Earth in its history
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Today, the Sahara, the biggest desert on our planet, is not only endless sand dunes, and volcanoes, oases and high mountain ranges, pristine lake and rocky desert. But a hundred million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, the Sahara was literally teeming with ferocious predators. To such conclusion scientists came after the South-East of Morocco, was discovered fossils of the group Who-Whom (the name of the geological group of the area), belonging to a huge, predatory dinosaurs. It is hard to imagine, but in the distant past, the Sahara was densely populated by many different organisms, and without exaggeration, was “the most dangerous place on Earth in its history”.
the Most dangerous place on Earth
If you imagine that time travel is possible, then finding himself in the Sahara desert 100 million years ago you are unlikely to live long. All because this area was inhabited by too many predators. According to a study published in the journal , most of the fossils of the group someone Who discovered in the form of limited fragmentary remains, but allow scientists to look at the dinosaurs of Africa.
Writes , the authors of the study believe that in the past this region was a tropical climate and extensive river system. And it is not surprising that it was home to many aquatic and terrestrial animals, many of which likely ate river fish. It is also possible that in the rivers was infested with giant fish and even a huge freshwater shark Onchopristis saw. As they say in their paper, the researchers, the other terrestrial ecological community in which the ball is ruled by such large predators do not exist.
Hard to imagine, but once the desert of Shara was the most dangerous place on the planet
Discovered fossils from the group, someone Who owns at least four species of large carnivorous dinosaurs. While three of them – one of the largest predatory dinosaurs that ever walked the planet. The results showed that a hundred million years this area was inhabited by huge crocodiles, several species of flying reptiles, super raptors and saber-toothed carcharodontosaurus (about 9 meters in height).
Mystery Stromer
But where, in this case, were all other animals? The authors of the new work, judging from the fossil remains of a giant herbivorous animals are not very well represented in the group Who-Whom. As reported , such an abundance of predatory and herbivorous dinosaurs known as the Mystery Stromer, named in honor of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer, who first opened the area in the early twentieth century. It was then, in 1936, he published his detailed work on the fossils of Africa. Just think, ever since – and it's been almost a hundred years – there has not been any extensive studies on fossil vertebrates of the Sahara.
Meanwhile, the obtained results showed that the most mentioned in the work of the vertebrates lived mainly in the aquatic environment, and the terrain itself was swarming with big fish, including giant Alicanto and brown protopterus. It is important to understand that the results can be just the tip of the iceberg and we just don't know about super-predators that inhabited the region during the Cretaceous period.
some look so life in the Sahara during the Cretaceous period.
But there is good news – now, due to the discovery of new specimens and the continued expansion of paleontological research, the authors believe that the diversity in the group someone Who will increase substantially in the coming decades. The researchers also claim that the discovered fossil remains, which are now exhibited in Museum collections worldwide, include huge dinosaurs, crocodiles, pterosaurs, turtles, fish, invertebrates and even plants.
I can Not mention that 2020 was surprisingly rich in stunning archaeological discoveries. So, I recently told you about discovered in the ice of Norway the present . It turned out it was quite a busy highway where you often find all sorts of useful items such as a knife or the head of a horse, which, incidentally, is well preserved. Not less interesting are also finding that lived in Antarctica about 40 million years ago. This means, as you may have guessed that in the past, the now-icy continent was similar to South America.
a Hundred million years ago the coast is rich in river systems of the Sahara was inhabited by dangerous predators.
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