Dinosaurs Left Europe During Mesozoic Era

Dinosaur families were fleeing from Europe during the Mesozoic Period, between 250 million and 66 million years ago, according to a study published in Journal of Biogeography. The study gives further evidence to previous theories that suggest dinosaurs were on migration mode even after the division of Pangaea, the ancient supercontinent.

"We presume that temporary land bridges formed due to changes in sea levels, temporarily reconnecting the continents," said Alex Dunhill, a paleontologist at the University of Leeds. "Such huge structures spanning, for example, from Indo-Madagascar to Australia may be difficult to imagine. But over the timescales that we are talking about, which is in the order of tens of millions of years, it is perfectly feasible that plate tectonic activity gave rise to the perfect conditions for such land bridges to form."

In order to aid the study, researchers used the Paleobiology Database that keeps a record of every dinosaur fossil ever found on Earth. The fossil records for the same dinosaur families from various continents were then analyzed for various time periods, revealing associations that threw light on their movement patterns.

Certain areas on Earth, such as Europe, have substantial records of dinosaur fossils in comparison to other regions. To get a better perception of the disparity, the researchers did an in-depth study of the database to understand an initial connection between dinosaur families in the two continents. On the basis of their analysis, the scientists found that though continental splitting definitely decreased the intercontinental movement of the prehistoric animals, it did not absolutely restrict it.

The study also showed that all relations between Europe and other continents throughout the Early Cretaceous Era, which lasted from 125 to 100 million years ago, were outgoing. The phenomenon basically implies that dinosaur species were going out of Europe and not coming in, and scientists are still trying to work out a plausible explanation for this occurrence. Researchers are also speculating whether the reason is due to a real migratory pattern, or simply a conclusion derived from the sporadic and incomplete nature of dinosaur fossils discovered and recorded until now.