Dinosaur bone discovery stirs excitement in Tajikistan's north
In the north of Tajikistan, within the Sughd region, scientists have made a significant discovery that has captured widespread attention. They have uncovered a dinosaur bone that likely dates back 85 million years.
A team of scientists, including palaeontologists from Russia and Tajikistan, also found remains of smaller Cretaceous creatures, such as turtles, crocodiles, amphibians, fish, and lizards.
A major discovery
The excavation work was conducted in the village of Kansai from the 20th to the 28th of October this year. The research team comprised Russian palaeontologists from Yekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow, as well as two scientists from Tajikistan.
Research is ongoing on the recently discovered dinosaur bone, but scientists are still unsure which part of the body it comes from. Umid Nabiev, a member of the Tajik expedition team, noted that this detail will be clarified as the research continues.
It is noteworthy, however, that this is not the first such find in Kansai. In the 1960s, a team led by renowned palaeontologist Anatoly Rozhdestvensky discovered almost an entire femur of a therizinosaur - a dinosaur from the coelurosaur group, along with a series of smaller bones of other extinct animals. In the 1980s, Russian palaeontologist Lev Nesov discovered remains of mammals from the Cretaceous period in this location.
Research is ongoing
Scientists aim to resume excavations in May next year and plan to explore new sites in Kansai. Due to the extraction of raw materials for cement production in the area, new canyons have formed, which may interest palaeontologists. Some of the discovered bone fragments have been handed over to the Sughd Regional Historical and Cultural Museum, which also houses the remains of a southern mammoth found in Tajikistan in 2013.
Umid Nabiev, a participant in the expedition, is notably the only person in Tajikistan currently studying palaeontology. He shared that his university started working with Russian scientists interested in teaching this subject last year. This led to his invitation to study palaeontology at the Institute of Zoology and Parasitology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. He remains the only student who has opted for this speciality.
