Morocco 1995
Stats
Location: Western Morocco
Age of Fossil Beds: Late Cretaceous, about 95 million years old
Primary Goals: Investigate beds from the time during which the African continent was separating from South America
Accomplishments
Discovery of a 36-foot long predator, Deltadromeus, and a 6-foot long skull of Carcharodontosaurus. Dinosaur discoveries lend support to proposition that dinosaur evolution cannot be neatly divided into two subgroups.
Scientific Accouncements
- Carcharodontosaurus – announced – May 13, 1996
- Deltadromeus – announced – May 13,1996
Press Release
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/96/960513.dinosaur.shtml
Highlights
“One of the most physically demanding expeditions I have ever been on.” – Paul Sereno
The expedition to Morocco yielded five incredible finds: a skull of the huge predator Carcharodontosaurus, a partial skeleton of the fleet footed Deltadromeus, skull bones and teeth of the long, lost dinosaur Spinosaurus, a pond deposit with complete skeletons of the bichir (reed fish), Serenoichthys and complete crabs, and an extensive footprint zone recording thousands of dinosaur tracks.
Team member Gabrielle Lyon discovered the skeleton of Deltadromeus.
The trip to Morocco wasn’t as arduous as traveling across the Sahara desert, but still required a long journey with the trucks and equipment. Team members flew to London, unpacked the equipment and loaded the trucks in England, ferried to France and drove across Spain, crossed the Mediterranean at Gibraltar, and drove across Morocco to finally begin the dig.