RE: Kenya's first dinosaurs

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Renato Santos
>
> Guy Leahy wrote:
> 
> > > NAIROBI (AFP) - Scientists on Kenya's first scientific dinosaur 
> >expedition have unearthed hundreds of bones in an area
> > > previously known for the discovery of ancient human remains, team 
> >members said.
> > >
> > >  Kenyan and US paleontologists conducting the dig said they found more 
> >than 200 dinosaur specimens, including three from
> > > large carnivorous theropods thought to be related to the fearsome 
> >Tyrannosaurus Rex, in northwestern Kenya.
> 
> Wow! I guess we'll be hearing a lot from that formation in the years to come 
> :-)
> I know that this here last phrase is an oversimplification, but since 
> Stokesosaurus and Aviatyrannis do exist in the Late Jurassic, wouldn't it be 
> interesting if one of these turns out to be a Gondwanan counterpart of the 
> Tyrannosauroidea? But probably one should read there: abelisauroid, basal 
> tetanuran, allosauroid and basal coelurosaur.

Santanaraptor has been postulated (by me in Dinosauria II) as a possible 
Gondwanan tyrannosauroid.

> > > In the years that followed, visitors to the "Turkana Grits," a rock 
> >formation on the western shore of Lake Turkana near
> > > the town of Lokitaung, reported seeing unusual bone fragments but no 
> >scientific dinosaur expedition was conducted there
> > > until last year, according to Sampson.
> 
> Is there anywhere where we can know the age of this formation? I'm guessing 
> Cretaceous.

Dinosauria II cites Westcott et al. 1993 (J. Afr. Earth Sci. 16:425-435) as 
giving a Turonian-Santonian age.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
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