New Species of Cold Weather Dinosaurs Discovered in Alaska May Have Lived in Snow

Scientists may have uncovered a new species cold-weather dinosaur. In contrast to tropical species, this 30-foot-long herbivore endured months of winter darkness and probably had to deal with snowy conditions.

The new dinosaur is named Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis, which means ancient grazer of the Colville River. The remains from the dinosaur itself were found in a remote part of Alaska at a site called the Prince Creek formation, making this one of the northernmost dinosaurs known to have ever lived.

"The finding of dinosaurs this far north changes everything we thought about a dinosaur's physiology," said Greg Erikson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It creates this natural question. How did they survive up here?"

At the time that the Prince Creek Formation was deposited, it was located well above the paleo-arctic circle at about 80 degrees north latitude. This means that the dinosaurs found in the location lived as far north as land is known to have existed during this time period.

During this time, Arctic Alaska was covered in trees, since Earth's climate as a whole was much warmer. However, it was so far north that the dinosaurs probably had to deal with months of winter darkness; they lived in a world where the average temperature was about 43 degrees Fahrenheit, and they probably saw snow.

"What we're finding is basically this lost world of dinosaurs with many new forms completely new to science," said Erikson.

The majority of the remains found from Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis were from younger or juvenile dinosaurs that ranged about nine feet long and three feet tall at the hip. The researchers believe that it's possible that a herd of juveniles was killed suddenly to create this deposit of remains.

"Alaska is basically the last frontier," said Erikson. "It's virtually unexplored in terms of vertebrate paleontology. So, we think we're going to find a lot of new species."

The findings are published in the journal Acta Palaeontological Polonica.

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