palaeontologist work in Utah have hit upon a remarkable Cretaceous scene preserve in sandstone . It appear that an intact battalion of Utahraptors — a metal money intimately link to velociraptor — got stuck in quicksand and died together while trace .
As Brian Switekreportsin National Geographic , the discovery shows that the Jurassic Park movies may have stupefy it flop — bird of prey do in fact work together to chase down quarry . The uncovering of six utahraptor and one Iguanodont , a two-footed herbivore , packed tightly into a little space represent an intriguing piece of grounds to this long - standing debate .
Switek describes the “ Dinosaur Death Trap ” and how the drama may have played out :
An unwary iguanodont stumble into the quicksand , roaring and struggling . If this did n’t attract carnivores , then “ that nice meaty smell would have , ” [ paleontologist James ] Kirkland suppose , like fly ball to flypaper . One Utahraptor after another strain to nab an promiscuous repast and only ended up getting stuck , total to the deathly scent .
“ We believe it ’s going to be the first example of dinosaurs trapped in quicksand en masse in the fossil record , ” Kirkland says .
The dinosaurs were encased in a small country , and in some places the fossil were stack three feet thick . It ’s imaginable that they decease at dissimilar times as they pass into the “ dewatering feature film , ” or what is commonly known as quicksand . Or they break together in “ a societal supper gone horribly unseasonable . ”
The find will also aid palaeontologist find out more about superslasher anatomy . The team discover bones from a 16 - foot - farsighted ( 4.8 meters ) grownup , four juveniles , and a sister that quantify 3 feet ( 0.9 metre ) long from schnozzle to go after .
Muchmoreat National Geographic , include a wild video showing how heavily it was to get the clod of sandstone off the drop .
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