We all have often heard about the giant asteroid strike on Earth around 66 million years ago, which killed of all the dinosaurs. This was the massive asteroid Chicxulub and it played a crucial role in the extinction of dinosaurs as well as a wide range of other environmental and biotic organisms. However, no solid proof was ever found that an asteroid killed dinosaurs. Till now, it seems. Scientists have recently found a well-preserved leg of a dinosaur, considered to be from the time when the asteroid hit the Earth. The dinosaur's limb is complete with skin found from the emerging fossil site of Tanis in the US State of North Dakota. But it's not the long survived fossil that is holding prime importance, it's actually the representation of the actual day when a giant asteroid struck Earth.
The discovered dinosaur fossil and several other ancient specimens were actually killed and entombed on the very day of the asteroid strike. There are very few dinosaur remains that have been found in the rocks to study the impact of the asteroid, and to have a specimen from that era would be extraordinary in itself, BBC reported. Sir David Attenborough, a biologist, natural historian and broadcaster will review this newly found dinosaur fossil.
Along with the dinosaur’s leg fossil, scientists have found a fish that breathed in the impact debris of the asteroid as it rained down from the sky around 66 million years ago. Besides these, there is a fossil turtle, remains of small mammals, skin from a horned triceratops; the embryo of a flying pterosaur inside its egg. These fish fossils and sturgeon are the keys to discovering more about that day, as they have small particles of molten rock stuck in their gills, which suggested that fish
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