Iran, a Paradise for Paleontology

Millions of years ago, long before there were any humans, there were dinosaurs....

  Millions of years ago, long before there were any humans, there were dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were one of several prehistoric reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic Era or the ’Age of Reptiles’.Dinosaurs however suddenly became extinct about 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, which was a time of high volcanic and tectonic activities. There are a lot of theories about how they became extinct. The most widely accepted theory is that an asteroid impact caused major climatic changes which the dinosaurs could not adapt to. Now, all that is left of dinosaurs are their fossils.Dinosaurs dominated the Earth for over 165 million years. Paleontologists study their fossil remains to learn about the amazing prehistoric world of dinosaurs.Many scientists are convinced that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Numerous finds in recent years seemed to support the hypothesis that birds evolved from two-legged, running dinosaurs called theropods.Iran is an important country for paleontology, with fossil-rich regions such as Maragheh, Varzaghan and Kerman. In the last two years, Iranian experts have found fossils of gigantic animals dating back to over one million years ago.Kerman province has long been called the fossil paradise of Iran because many fossils from different geological periods have been found there. Also some pieces of dinosaur bones have been found in Maragheh, West Azarbaijan province.In this region, experts have so far been able to identify fossils of aquatics from the first geological period, fossils of dinosaurs from the Jurassic period, and fossils of mammals dating back to the third geological period.Dr, Esmail Kahrom, an environmentalist and wildlife expert, has conducted extensive research on dinosaur remains in some parts of Iran including the oil-rich regions of Asalouyeh, in Bushehr province." Fossil fuels are formed over millions of years from the fossils, or remains, of dead animals and plants. The fossils are buried under soil and rock. Heat from the earth and pressure from the soil and rock changes these fossils into oil, natural gas, and coal, “he said. He pointed out that fossil fuels are the same as dinosaur fuel since some traces of dinosaurs have been spotted in the oil-rich region of Iran .Kahrom, also a university instructor, believes that vestiges of dinosaurs could be found in 15-20 regions of the Iranian Plateau. Referring to the spread of dinosaurs to other parts of the world, he said during the dinosaur era the continents were not the same as they are now. “Some dinosaur fossils which were discovered in the USA were also found in Tibet." Dinosaurs were land-dwelling reptiles that walked with upright. Their unique hip structure caused their legs to stick out from under their bodies, and not spread out to the side. When dinosaurs first evolved from more primitive brachiosaurs, they were bipedal (walked on two legs). Much later, some dinosaur species returned to a four-legged stance with hind legs much larger than the front legs. There were many different kinds of dinosaurs living in different times. Some were huge, some were small. Some walked on two legs and some on four. Some were speedy while others were slow and lumbering. Some were carnivores and others herbivores. Some were armor-plated, some had thick, scaly skins, some had horns and some even had primitive feathers. There are currently over 330 identified dinosaur species and this number is growing. This, of course, is only a sample of all the different kinds of dinosaurs-rex, meaning the ’king of dinosaurs’, has little sharp spikes on its head. Its tooth was six inches long. It has capacity for 150 pounds of meat in its mouth at one time. The best known meat eaters are Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Albertosarurs and Daspletosarurs. The T-rex was the biggest meat-eating dinosaur ever to live in North America. The T-rex’s teeth were sharp and dangerous and good for eating meat. This dinosaur can rip off as much as 500 pounds of meat. Carcharodonsaurus was even bigger and worse than T-rex. T-rex fossils were found in the southern state of New Mexico. The Carcharodontosaurus was about 45 feet long.“The United States is the haven of dinosaurology. A lot of fossils have been discovered in the US and Mexico in 15 years,“ he said.Pointing to the status of Iran Plateau during the dinosaur era, Kahrom said Iran was out of water during the Jurassic era (195 to 65 million years ago) and we expect to find more fossilized dinosaurs in this country. “Footprints of dinosaurs, referred to as Camptosaurus, have been located in Kerman province.“Camptosaurus is a Jurassic-age plant-eating dinosaur and a primitive Iguanodontid. Camptosaurus grew to a length of 23 ft. (7 m),“ Kahrom stated.“Fossils of giant sea creatures--the ancestors of present-day whales--have been found during geological studies in Chabahar and the Persian Gulf,“ he said, adding that professional excavation s will help unravel the secrets of underground.According to him, Iran was the habitat of Baluchitherium, the largest land mammal ever to have lived. “The fossil of the Baluchitherium which lived 55 million years ago as the dinosaurs were becoming extinct was discovered in Khorasan.“Given that, dinosaur fossils are not easy to come by, Kahrom stated that these fossils are buried deep underground or were decomposed on the surface.Kahrom contended that that there was a severe ice age. Throughout Earth’s history there were many ice ages. The last one ended about 10,000 years ago. A very severe Ice Age led to drastic temperatures changes and froze a lot of Earth’s water. The dinosaurs were not able to live under such conditions and thus became extinct.