UT researchers uncover Jurassic fossils beforehand unfound in Texas

A staff of scientists at UT in collaboration with scientists from Southern Methodist College found the primary Jurassic vertebrate fossils in Texas within the Malone Mountains close to the Texas-Mexico border. 

The Jurassic interval lasted from about 145 million years in the past to 200 million years in the past and is a geologic age marked by the presence of dinosaurs. Vertebrates are animals with a spine. What scientists suppose to have found are the fossils of a marine Jurassic reptile known as a plesiosaur, mentioned spearhead of the expedition Steven Could. 

“It’s not too stunning that that’s what we discovered as a result of simply throughout the border in Mexico, there’s been a good variety of fossil vertebrates discovered within the age equal rocks,” mentioned Could, analysis affiliate on the Jackson College of Geosciences Museum of Earth Historical past. “In these rocks, they discovered plesiosaurs they usually discovered ichthyosaurs, that are type of like dolphin-looking animals, however they have been additionally marine reptiles.”

Could started his search when he began engaged on a guide that chronicles an summary of vertebrate fossils in Texas by geological age. He mentioned there usually are not many uncovered Jurassic rocks in Texas wanted to search out the fossils, however that Jurassic invertebrate fossils similar to snails, clams and ammonites have been recorded within the Malone Mountains of West Texas.

Could mentioned he discovered the concept to go to the Malone Mountains when studying by a paper revealed in 1938 by Claude O’Brien discussing “massive bone fragments” that caught his consideration and led him to exit and discover.

Could mentioned he and his staff consider {that a} small arm of the Pacific Ocean known as the Chihuahua Trough made its method to the westernmost a part of Texas the place the Malone Mountains are, that means that not like many of the state in the course of the Jurassic interval, this half was coated in shallow ocean. 

Though a big discovery, Could mentioned that it’s only the start of discovering what all is on the market within the Malone Mountains. He mentioned they solely prospected a couple of sq. miles of the whole 13 sq. miles of the mountain formation on account of a lot of it being within the inside of the pretty distant vary. 

“We’re fairly near the shoreline, so it’s doable that even a number of the extra type of standard terrestrial dinosaurs might have died and been washed out into these shallow marine settings,” Could mentioned. “You could possibly discover a complete suite of the type of traditional late Jurassic dinosaurs that we see farther north … traditional dinosaurs like allosauruses, stegosauruses and that type of dinosaur.” 

Could and his colleagues revealed a paper final month describing what they discovered whereas in West Texas. He mentioned they have been solely capable of finding these fossils due to the permission and good graces of the Texas Normal Land Workplace, but additionally because of the native landowners who supported their endeavors. 

“We hope now that we’ve put this paper out and have mentioned, ‘Hey, there are Jurassic vertebrates in Texas,’ hopefully others will choose up that problem and head on the market and proceed the exploration,” Could mentioned.