Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405060109
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
An expedition led by William Hammer of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., found the fossils on a mountainside 400 miles from the South Pole. His group braved temperatures of 25 degrees below zero to hack out some 5,000 pounds of rock imprisoning the fossils and move the specimens to the United States.
Since the extraction in 1991, Hammer and his group have assembled the pieces and found that the fossils are from a previously unknown dinosaur species, a meat-eating animal with large jaws, sharp teeth and a distinctive bony crest on top of its head.
"We called it Cryolophosaurus ellito, or frozen crested reptile," Hammer said Thursday. "That's because it's got a crest on its head and we almost froze to death collecting it."
A report on the study is to be published today in the journal Science.
The animal measured about 25 feet in length and apparently walked on its large hind legs, said Hammer. Its appearance was similar to another meat-eater called allosaurus.
But this animal was unique because of its location and the age in which it lived.
"This is the first dinosaur find on the mainland of Antarctica ... and is the highest latitude find," Hammer said.
This shows, he said, that Antarctica then had a climate mild enough to support large-animal life, including herds of plant-eaters that would be the prey of the crested reptile.
bones from a prosauropod, a type of plant-eating dinosaur that has been found on other continents.
Age of the animal was determined by geologists, who dated rocks found just above the fossils.
"This indicates to us that this thing was probably feeding on a herbivore skeleton when it died," said the scientist.
At the time the animal lived, Antarctica was still attached to other southern continents. A process called continental drift caused the large land masses to slowly separate from a single body over millions of years. Hammer estimates that the site of his dig was at about 65 degrees south latitude 200 million years ago. It now is at about 85 degrees.
Hammer said the fossils may help fill a gap in tracing the evolution of dinosaurs.
``This is early in the Jurassic, which is pretty early in the evolution of dinosaurs,'' he said. ``It shows that carnivores got large and evolved very rapidly.''
Other dinosaur experts said they were excited about the new discovery.
``This is a spectacular new find,'' said Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago. ``It's really the first good look we've had at what existed in Antarctica during the Jurassic period.''
The find is important not only for understanding dinosaurs, he said, but also for studying the ancient climate.
``This is a highly significant find,'' said Mike Parish of North Illinois University. ``It is an animal new to science. It opens up a whole new chapter in our understanding of dinosaurs.''
Science, which published the study, is the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
by CNB