Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Finally, the news they have been waiting for arrives.
The Dr. Currie team from Canada discovers a great fossil.
- What is it? - Bone.
It's beautiful!
The lower jaw of an adolescent Tarbosaurus.
A Tarbosaurus skull is a very rare finding.
during our expedition...
Through leg or foot bones, we were able to recognize its existence,
but a skull wasn't discovered.
Therefore, we're all excited about the uncovered jaw and skull,
as if we had discovered gold in a desert.
The discovery of a jaw, a first in ten days, encourages the team.
Dr. Philip Currie, Dept. of Biological Sciences Univ. of Alberta, Canada The bones in fact come out of cliff, all along through here.
And because of that,
we know that the skull had fallen apart when the animal died.
And have been scattered little bit in the stream.
So now what we have to do is to try to find as many bones as we can
of the skull of this Tarbosaurus.
The sediments that contain fossils in this area are soft,
so excavation with simple tools is possible.
To dig the scattered bones,
they must dig through the surface as far down as possible.
Seven members got stuck to the excavation work.
A part of its neck vertebra is discovered 2m away from its jaw.
Dr. Philip Currie, Dept. of Biological Sciences Univ. of Alberta, Canada These are big dinosaurs when they grow up.
This particular individuals of small one, you can see that from a neck vertebra.
But nevertheless, it has a balance problem.
It's walking on tiny legs like a titter tot.
Its body is too heavy, it's going to fall on its face.
So tyrannosaurs and all relatives had basically pneumatized its bones
and it made its bones hallow and air-filled.
Didn't I tell you I'm quite heavy? I weigh about 6 tons.
I also have a heavy head...
On top of that, I walk on two legs.
Thus, I emptied the bones from the neck down to the ninth tail bone.
It was an attempt to decrease my weight.
It's just like how it is for birds.
The excavation process continued for 5 days.
They dig aslope over 1 meter deep.
Unfortunately, a complete skeleton is not discovered.
Instead, they secure Tarbosaurus' teeth, neck vertebrae,
and part of its skull.
When it's time for the team to return, the base camp becomes busy.