Chile's Torres del Paine park yields dinosaur treasure trove

The view along the ‘W’ Circuit trail in Torres del Paine park in Patagonia, Chile. -- PHOTO: BUSINESS TIMES FILE
The view along the ‘W’ Circuit trail in Torres del Paine park in Patagonia, Chile. -- PHOTO: BUSINESS TIMES FILE

SANTIAGO (REUTERS) - Paleontologists have discovered nearly 50 entire ichthyosaur dinosaur fossils in southern Chile, one of the best finds of its kind to date, they said on Tuesday.

The fossils of the dolphin-like creature were unearthed in the country's Torres del Poo

iaine National Park, whose spiky peaks and brilliant turquoise lakes make it a magnet for trekkers and nature lovers.

Researchers said the dinosaurs, buried by rocks from the huge Tyndall Glacier, lived between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods, which extended from 250 million to 66 million years ago.

"This great ichthyosaur cemetery, the way the remains are deposited, is unique," Christian Salazar, paleontologist researcher and natural history museum curator, said on Tuesday. "It's the most recent great find in their history. That's going to answer a lot of questions about how they became extinct, where they migrated to, how they lived," he said.

The 46 fossils were found in about three months of excavating, Salazar added, and more were likely to be found.

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