Yale scientists discover the last living dinosaur
Scientists have discovered a fossil of a non-avian dinosaur only 13 centimeters below the K-T layer. Befpre people get too excited more of these need to be found, just one could be a displacement through natural causes long after extinction.
The fossil — a 45-centimetre horn believed to be from a triceratops — was found in Montana’s Hell Creek formation. It was located just below the K-T boundary, the band of the Earth’s crust that represents the time period in which the meteor struck.
One of the main problems with the meteor theory has been the lack of any non-avian dinosaur fossils buried within 10 feet of the boundary — known as the ‘three metre gap.’
The absence of fossils, some paleontologists say, indicates dinosaurs were already extinct when the cosmic impact occurred.
Yale paleontologist Tyler Lyson, lead author of the study, says the new discovery proves otherwise.
“To all of our surprise the boundary was no more than 13 centimetres above this horn, and the significance is this indicates that at least some dinosaurs were doing quite well in this locale at the time of the meteor impact,” he told ctv.ca.