Re: Dino 'survival' claim disputed

[Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com>]

> Dino 'survival' claim disputed 
> 
> By Paul Rincon 
> BBC News Online science staff 
> 
> 
> Dr Buck suggests the presence of several iridium layers at Nanxiong 
> supports a
> view that Cretaceous rocks were reworked in the Tertiary. 
> 
> Multiple claims 
> 
> There have been other claims for the survival of dinosaurs into 
> Tertiary times
> at sites in Montana and New Mexico in the US, in Bolivia and in 
> India. 
> 
> All of these claims have been questioned by other researchers. 



This subject revives itself in the literature every 4-5 years.  Like
Lazarus.  So far, the claims have turned out to be a lot of smoke, but no
fire.

IMHO, researchers should not make claims of post-K survivors unless they
have found an articulated dinosaur skeleton in strata that is
unambiguously (and universally agreed upon to be) Paleocene in age.  So
far, no one has been able find a case where both of these criteria are
satisfied.  For those interested in the subject of "post Cretaceous
non-avian dinosaurs", here are a few papers for your perusal.


Argast, S., J. O. Farlow, R. M. Gabet, and D. L. Brinkman. 1987. 
Transport-induced abrasion of fossil reptilian teeth: Implications for
the existence of Tertiary dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation, Montana.
 Geology 15:927-930.

Fassett, J. E., S. G. Lucas, R. A. Zeilenski, and J. R. Budahn. 2000.
Compelling new evidence for Paleocene dinosaurs in the Ojo Alamo
Sandstone, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado, USA., pp. 45-46 in
Catastrophic events and mass extinctions, Lunar and Planetary
Contribution No 1053. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.


Lofgren, D. L., C. L. Hotton, and A. D. Runkel. 1990. Reworking of
Cretaceous dinosaurs into Paleocene channel deposits, upper Hell Creek
Formation, Montana. Geology 18: 874-877.


Rigby, J. K., Jr., K. R. Newman, J. Smit, S. van Der Kaars, R. E. Sloan,
and J. K. Rigby. 1987. Dinosaurs from the Paleocene part of the Hell
Creek Formation, McCone County, Montana. Palaios 2: 296-302.


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