Dinosaur bone discovery in Tajikistan sparks scientific buzz
In the north of Tajikistan, in the Sughd region, scientists have made a major discovery: everyone is talking about a dinosaur bone that has been found and is believed to date back 85 million years.
1:34 PM EST, November 12, 2024
Scientists, including paleontologists from Russia and Tajikistan, also found remains of smaller animals from the Cretaceous period, such as turtles, crocodiles, amphibians, fish, and lizards.
A major discovery
The excavation work was carried out in the village of Kansai from October 20 to 28 of this year. The research team included Russian paleontologists from Yekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow, as well as two scientists from Tajikistan.
Scientists are researching the discovered dinosaur bone, but it is still unclear which part of the body it belongs to. Umid Nabiev, one of the Tajik members of the expedition, mentioned that this detail will be determined as further research progresses.
It is worth noting, however, that this is not the first such find in Kansai. In the 1960s, a team led by renowned paleontologist Anatoly Rozhdestvensky discovered almost an entire femur of a therizinosaur—a dinosaur from the coelurosaur group—and a series of smaller bones of other extinct animals. Meanwhile, in the 1980s, Russian paleontologist Lev Nesov found remains of mammals from the Cretaceous period in this area.
Research is ongoing
Scientists plan to continue excavations in May next year and explore new sites in Kansai. Due to the extraction of raw materials for cement production in the area, new canyons have formed that might interest paleontologists. Some of the bone remnants, including the remains of a southern mammoth discovered in Tajikistan in 2013, have been handed over to the Sughd Regional Historical and Cultural Museum.
Notably, Umid Nabiev, who took part in the expedition, is currently the sole individual in Tajikistan focusing on paleontology. He mentioned that last year, his university collaborated with Russian scientists who were interested in teaching the subject. This partnership led to an opportunity for him to study paleontology at the Institute of Zoology and Parasitology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. To date, he remains the only student who has pursued this specialty.
