dinosaurs/petroleum

[Christine Mills <millsc@clpgh.org>]

Hello, I am a lurker with a problem and am seeking some help.  I am
extremely bothered by the Geo Metro radio commercials that use
dinosaurs in a cute and I believe false way to sell cars.  One states
that petroleum was formed from ancient creatures, dinosaurs were
ancient creatures and your car may be powered by an Apatasaurus (but
that doesn't mean it has to be a dinosaur.)
     I always believed petroleum was formed from ancient marine
creatures, dinosaurs are not marine creatures and so it is very
unlikely that my car is powered by an Apatasaurus (or Stegasaurus or
Velociraptor as another ad states).  I did, however, speculate,
jokingly, that a small group of Apatasaurs were was swimming in the
Niobara Sea heading for an island that was sending out the aroma of
good food for miles when they were attacked by sharks and the debris
from the attack fell to the sea floor and later turned into petroleum.
That made me smile and not grit my teeth when I heard the commercials.
(Thanks to the list for putting that twisted idea in my head.)
     Can anyone tell me whether it is at all possible that dinosaurs
gave up their lives to become petroleum (I just read that in a novel
about the oil industry in Alaska which also states that the North
Slope oil is Permo-Triassic in age.)  Is this a myth surviving from
the days when people believed dinosaurs couldn't support their weight
on land and had to be marine?  Or am I wrong about the connection
between oil and marine creatures?  Is there a certain time period that
all petroleum dates from?  If it is all Triassic or earlier that would
eliminate Apatasaurus' contributions.
     Thank you.  I am a docent at the Carnegie Museum of Natural
History and I know someone will look at Apatasaurus soon and tell me
most Apatasaurs became petroleum because they heard it on the radio.
I know I should be posting to an economic geologist's list but I know
that I trust your answers.  (I'm not saying I can't trust an economic
geologist just that I don't lurk on their list so I don't know whether
to trust them.)

Christine Mills
Education Office
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA
millsc@clpgh.edu
in an informed way