United States: A recent study published in the journal Geosciences has turned the paleontological world on its head, revealing that the Utahraptor, the world’s largest raptor dinosaur, lived 10 million years earlier than previously believed. This groundbreaking discovery not only provides new insights into dinosaur evolution but also redefines our understanding of the role of the Weissert Event in shaping global change.
The Utahraptor Ridge site in Utah, part of the Cedar Mountain Formation, has long been a treasure trove for palaeontologists. This formation contains the highest variety of dinosaur fossils in the world and is home to the Stikes Quarry, a fossil quicksand deposit packed with remarkably preserved dinosaur fossils. The quarry was first excavated in the early 1990s, and since then, it has offered valuable information about dinosaur biology and behaviour.
The research team, led by Mr. Gregory Ludvigson, emeritus senior scientist with the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, used two methods to determine the age of the fossils: uranium/lead dating of zircon crystals and analysis of stable carbon isotopes in buried organic matter. Their findings revealed that the rocks and fossils at the Stikes Quarry, part of the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, were at least 135 million years old.
The revised age of the Utahraptor fossils not only offers new insights into the evolutionary history of dinosaurs but also narrows the gap in the rock record between the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods in Utah. Additionally, the study unexpectedly linked the Stikes Dinosaur Quarry to the Weissert Event, a global change episode with far-reaching implications for understanding Earth’s history.
This monumental discovery is expected to have a significant and lasting impact on the field of palaeontology, as it redefines our understanding of dinosaur evolution and sheds new light on the role of the Weissert Event in shaping our planet’s past.