Norway's First Dinosaur - Say Hello to Plateosaurus

Remembering Norway and its First Dinosaur Many people believe that we now know just about everything we are ever going to know about dinosaurs.b>sbo This time of year trips are being planned by teachers and many schools will have the opportunity to tour their regional museum and no doubt the fossil galleries and the dinosaur exhibits will prove to be very popular. Museum curators and directors up and down the country will be finalising their plans for the spring and summer events programme.sbo I am sure a number of dinosaur themed exhibitions will be taking place all aimed at satisfying the curiosity of children and adults alike. Still Lots to Learn about Dinosaurs However, in reality we still know very little about the Mesozoic (the Age of Reptiles 248 million to 65 million years ago) and the creatures and plants that inhabited these ancient times. True, we have some spectacular fossils,sbo including dinosaur fossils, many of which will form the central theme for the museum programmes and the school trips, but despite the very best efforts of the scientific community, our understanding of dinosaurs and their world is still very fragmentary. Take Norway for example, this very beautiful country with its majestic fjords may be renowned for its geology (along with herrings, oil, dodgy Eurovision songs,sbobet Vikings and woolly jumpers), but until recently no dinosaur remains had been unearthed on the country of Norway itself. Dinosaur Fossil Found in a Core Drilled when Prospecting for Oil In May 2006, the first ever dinosaur discovery was made in Norway. Scientists drilling for oil at the Snorre offshore field in the North Sea discovered a fossil of a crushed knuckle-bone of a large dinosaur in a sandstone rock core. Palaeontologists identified the bone it belonged to a Plateosaurus,sbobet which probably died as it migrated across a huge dry, sandy plain, criss-crossed with rivers approximately 210 million years ago. As Plateosaurus lived in herds there are probably many more fossils awaiting discovery deep beneath Norway's seas. The fossil was found in sediments 1.4 miles down, making this the deepest ever fossil find as well as Norway's first dinosaur. This is a truly remarkable discovery and one,sbobet like many scientific discoveries which was down to pure luck. Plateosaurus - A Very Successful Dinosaur The Plateosaurus genus is relatively well-known with many fossils having been excavated across Western Europe.sbo The most famous specimens of Plateosaurus fossils were found at Trössingen in southern Germany. It was a large herbivorous animal of the sub-order Sauropodomorpha. Although, there is still some doubt as to how closely related this animal was to the true Sauropods (long-necked giants like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus), that were to evolve later. Seeing a herd of these animals on the move would have been an awesome sight as they could weigh up to 4 Tonnes and many were up to 8 metres long. Two species have been described to date. There are not many models of Triassic dinosaurs available, but slowly and surely more manufacturers,sbobet especially European ones are offering models of Triassic animals.