Nature & Environment
Fourth Largest African Diamond Mine Holds Footprints of Dinosaurs
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 05, 2014 10:36 AM EST
One of the largest diamond mines in Africa may not just hold modern-day riches; it may also hold paleontological treasures. Researchers have discovered 118-million-year-old footprints that belonged to dinosaurs, crocodiles and large mammals within the mine.
The footprints themselves were found in Catoca mine, which is the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, located in Angola. It's owned by a consortium of international mining interests, and had a production of 2.6 million carats in 2001. Yet this mine doesn't only hold diamonds. It also holds clues to the past.
Researchers uncovered 70 distinct tracks in the mine. All of them were discovered in a small sedimentary basin that formed during the Early Cretaceous in the crater of a kimberlite pipe. The most important of these finds are the tracks from a large mammal the size of a modern raccoon. This is the first ever evidence of this type of mammal existing during the Early Cretaceous.
Yet the mammal tracks weren't the only ones that were seen in this mine. Nearby, 18 sauropod tracks were discovered with a preserved skin impression. These were the first ever dinosaur tracks found in Angola. In addition, the researchers found a trackway that porbably was made by a crocodilomorph, a group that includes all modern crocodiles and extinct relatives.
The tracks are actually the first fossils from the inlands of Angola to be found. In fact, for almost eight months, the Catoca Diamond Mine, the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, stopped mining in the sector where the fossils were found. Now, the researchers have concluded their study, allowing mining to continue.
The findings are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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First Posted: Nov 05, 2014 10:36 AM EST
One of the largest diamond mines in Africa may not just hold modern-day riches; it may also hold paleontological treasures. Researchers have discovered 118-million-year-old footprints that belonged to dinosaurs, crocodiles and large mammals within the mine.
The footprints themselves were found in Catoca mine, which is the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, located in Angola. It's owned by a consortium of international mining interests, and had a production of 2.6 million carats in 2001. Yet this mine doesn't only hold diamonds. It also holds clues to the past.
Researchers uncovered 70 distinct tracks in the mine. All of them were discovered in a small sedimentary basin that formed during the Early Cretaceous in the crater of a kimberlite pipe. The most important of these finds are the tracks from a large mammal the size of a modern raccoon. This is the first ever evidence of this type of mammal existing during the Early Cretaceous.
Yet the mammal tracks weren't the only ones that were seen in this mine. Nearby, 18 sauropod tracks were discovered with a preserved skin impression. These were the first ever dinosaur tracks found in Angola. In addition, the researchers found a trackway that porbably was made by a crocodilomorph, a group that includes all modern crocodiles and extinct relatives.
The tracks are actually the first fossils from the inlands of Angola to be found. In fact, for almost eight months, the Catoca Diamond Mine, the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, stopped mining in the sector where the fossils were found. Now, the researchers have concluded their study, allowing mining to continue.
The findings are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone