Research Reveals How Climate Delayed Some Dinosaur Migration

The research found that plant-eating dinosaurs possibly arrived in the Northern Hemisphere after millions of years of meat-eating their cousins, a deferment that possibly resulted from climate change.

KOMO News reported that according to research in Monday's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a more updated way of computing the dates of dinosaur fossils discovered in Greenland present that the plant-eaters known as sauropodomorphs were roughly 215 million years old, "instead of as much as 228 million years old," as thought before.

Such a development changes the manner scientists are thinking about dinosaur migration. The said report specified that the earliest dinosaurs all appeared to first develop in what's presently known as South America about 230 million years or older.

They then wandered towards the north and globally. This said study proposes that not all dinosaurs could migrate simultaneously.

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(Photo: Frank P. on Pixabay)
Science Times - Research found that plant-eating dinosaurs possibly arrived in the Northern Hemisphere after millions of years of meat-eating their cousins, a deferment that possibly resulted from climate change.

The 'Plateosaurus'

Until now, scientists have not discovered an example of the earliest dinosaur family that ate plants in the Northern Hemisphere over 215 million years of age.

One ideal example is the so-called "Plateousaurus," a two-legged 23-foot vegetarian weighing about 8,800 pounds.

Nonetheless, paleontologist Randy Irmis, from the University of Utah, who was not part of the study authors' team, discovered that meat-eaters were quite worldwide by at least 220 million years back.

Meanwhile, Dennis Kent, the study's lead author for Columbia University, said these plant-eaters "were latecomers in the Northern Hemisphere."

To find out what took these dinosaurs so long, Kent found out what possibly happened, by looking at that time, at both atmosphere and climate.

Moreover, about 230 million years back, during the Triassic period, carbon dioxide levels were said to be 10 times higher than the present time.

Drop-in Carbon Dioxide Levels

This said report also specified that it was a warmer world without ice sheet at the poles while a pair of bands of extreme deserts "north and south of the equator," explained Kent.

He added that it was very dry in the said regions that there were not adequate plants for the sauropodomorphs to survive such a journey, although there were "enough insects that meat-eaters could."

Nevertheless, roughly 215 million years back, CO2 levels briefly dropped by 50 percent, which enabled the deserts to have a bit more life of the plant, and the sauropodomorphs were able to make a tour.

Kent and the other scientists said Triassic is changing in CO2 levels from volcanoes and other natural forces, unlike today, when the coal, oil, and natural gas's burning are the primary drivers.

Changes in Magnetism of Earth

Cant utilized changes in earth magnetism in the soil to pinpoint Greenland fossils' more exact date. That underscored the gap's migration, said numerous external experts in both dinosaurs and oldened climate.

Kent used changes in Earth's magnetism in the soil to pinpoint the Greenland fossils' more exact date. That highlighted the migration time gap, said several outside experts both in dinosaurs and ancient climate.

The theory of Kent about climactic change, being the difference in dinosaurs' migration, is very cool as it returns to contemporary issues, Irmis explained.

Additionally, according to climate scientist and biologist Hans-Otto Portner from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, it also fits with some animals existing that have migrated issues, keeping them away from specific climates. Portner was not part of the said research.

While this research makes sense, there is a single probable flaw, dinosaur expert Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago said.

Just because no plant-eaters' fossils older than 215 million years have been discovered in the Northern Hemisphere, that does not necessarily mean no sauropodomorphs existed. The fossils may not have survived, he expounded.

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