Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Paleocene dinosaurs in New Mexico?



A new article in the online journal Palaeo-Electronica makes the case for at least a pocket of dinosaurs surviving the end-of-Cretaceous extinction in western New Mexico. Author Jim Fassett, emeritus USGS geologist, has been arguing this proposition since at least 1982, but this latest article appears intended to address criticisms of earlier studies. The entire article is open access online.

[right, index map of study areas in San Juan basin, New Mexico]

Ref: NEW GEOCHRONOLOGIC AND STRATIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE CONFIRMS THE PALEOCENE AGE OF THE DINOSAUR-BEARING OJO ALAMO SANDSTONE AND ANIMAS FORMATION IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN, NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO, James E. Fassett, http://www.palaeo-electronica.org/2009_1/149/index.html