Dinosaur discovery in Tajikistan uncovers Cretaceous secrets
In northern Tajikistan, in the Sughd region, scientists have uncovered a dinosaur bone estimated to be 85 million years old. During excavations in the village of Kansai, they also discovered remains of smaller animals from the Cretaceous period, including turtles, crocodiles, amphibians, fish, and lizards.
12 November 2024 21:09
The excavations occurred between the 20th and 28th of October, and Russian palaeontologists from Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Moscow, along with two scientists from Tajikistan, participated. Although they discovered the dinosaur bone, researchers have not yet identified which part of the body it belongs to. "This will be clarified in further research," said Umied Nabiev, one of the Tajik participants in the expedition.
The current research, overseen by Professor Pavel Skutschas from St. Petersburg State University, primarily focused on the remains of smaller creatures. The team discovered numerous fossils, including fish, lizards, frogs, crocodiles, and turtles. A research team member pointed out that contemporary frogs have largely maintained the same shapes and sizes as their ancient counterparts.
The village of Kansai has previously been the site of significant palaeontological discoveries. In the 1960s, the Palaeontological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, led by the renowned palaeontologist Anatoly Rozhdestvensky, unearthed an almost completely preserved femur of a Therizinosaurus—a dinosaur from the coelurosaur group—as well as a series of smaller bones from these extinct animals. In the 1980s, the noted Russian palaeontologist Lev Nesov found remains of mammals dating from the Cretaceous period in Kansai.
Scientists plan to continue excavations in May next year to explore new sites in Kansai. As a result of raw material extraction for cement production in the area, new canyons have formed, presenting promising opportunities for further palaeontological exploration.
Some of the remains discovered have been transferred to the Historical and Regional Museum of the Sughd Region. This institution also houses the remains of a southern mammoth discovered in 2013 in Tajikistan.
Umied Nabiev is currently the only person in Tajikistan studying palaeontology, a field with limited scientific expertise. He mentioned that his university began collaborating with Russian scientists interested in teaching palaeontology last year. This partnership led to him being offered the chance to study at the Institute of Zoology and Parasitology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. So far, he remains the only student who has pursued this speciality.
His mentor is Dmitry Gimranov, a biological sciences candidate and an employee of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Gimranov also participated in the recent expedition in Kansai.