[gtranslate]
News

Scientists have dug up part of a dinosaur that died the same day the asteroid hit

Palaeontologists in the United States have uncovered the remains of a dinosaur dated back to the literal day the asteroid wiped them all out.

The leg of a 66 million-year-old dinosaur has been discovered by scientists in the US, which is surprisingly intact, skin and all.

Some clever dinosaur experts have then traced the thescelosaurus neglectus remains back to the exact same day that the asteroid wiped out pretty much every dinosaur that walked the earth.

thescelosaurus neglectus
A computer drawing of a thescelosaurus neglectus | Credit: Chris Masna/ArtStation

They were able confirm this because they found debris buried on top of the fossil, that was raining down upon the asteroid’s impact.

The dino leg was described as the “ultimate dinosaur drumstick” by University of Manchester natural history professor Phillip Manning, who was at the scene of the dig in North Dakota.

“The time resolution we can achieve at this site is beyond our wildest dreams … this really should not exist and it’s absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful,” Manning said.

“I never dreamt in all my career that I would get to look at something a) so time-constrained and b) so beautiful, and also tells such a wonderful story.”

To make the discovery even more insane, the fossil was first discovered on camera while filming the David Attenborough doco, Dinosaurs: The Final Day.

We’re struggling to believe that scientists were able to trace the remains back so accurately after 66 million years, and so is lead researcher, Robert DePalma.

“We’ve got so many details with this site that tell us what happened moment by moment, it’s almost like watching it play out in the movies. You look at the rock column, you look at the fossils there, and it brings you back to that day,” DePalma said.

Our mind = blown.