Arctic Hadrosaur Detailed in New Study: a Giant Duck-Billed Herbivore that Roamed in a Herd
ByAmid a truly harrowing dig in Alaska's Prince Creek Formation, a team of scientists discovered a new species of dinosaur.
According to The Washington Post, the researchers published a study on their findings Tuesday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. They also detailed the many obstacles it took to get to a relatively untouched area that is rich with fossils.
The trip itself involves small planes and inflatable boats and is made all the more dangerous by the elements and natural surroundings. The researchers could only go when the ice was thawing and even still they faced freezing rain and snow, as well as the threat of rockslides. Additionally, they had to watch out for bears, wolves, mosquito hordes, and even falcons.
"Today we find these animals in polar latitudes," Pat Druckenmiller, earth sciences curator of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, said in a press release. "Amazingly, they lived even farther north during the Cretaceous Period. These were the northern-most dinosaurs to have lived during the Age of Dinosaurs. They were truly polar."
The researchers named the dinosaur Ugrunaaluk (oo-GREW-na-luck) kuukpikensis (KOOK-pik-en-sis), which means "ancient grazer." The herbivore was a duck-billed hadrosaur that lived in a herd and likely grew to be up to 30 feet long.
"Ugrunaaluk is far and away the most complete dinosaur yet found in the Arctic or any polar region," Druckenmiller said. "We have multiple elements of every single bone in the body.
"So far, all dinosaurs from the Prince Creek Formation that we can identify as species are distinct from those found anywhere else. The recognition of Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis provides further evidence that the dinosaurs living in polar latitudes in what is now Alaska were not the same species found from the same time periods in lower latitudes."