In the remote frontiers of Alaska, remains of dinosaurs were found in the least expected of places. Living in the cold frontiers were only a few dinosaurs were thought to exist in these northernmost locations.
Most of what is known about the dinosaur's physiology are contrary to them living in cold conditions. According to FSU Professor of Biological Science Greg Erickson, it breaks the mold of how dinosaurs were able to survive in such harsh conditions up north.
The name given to duck-bill type dinosaur is "Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis" or ancient grazer of the Colville River. Scientists were able to find and excavate the duck-bill dinosaur specimen in the Colville River, the north of Alaska identified as the Prince Creek Formation. More than one fossil was found but a whole group in the fossil bed. During this period, the Prince Creek Formation became the final resting place of these animals, the location is higher than the paleo-arctic circle. The location was 80 degrees north (latitude), all the dinosaurs were living as farther north than expected at this time.
Concurrent to the existing conditions when Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis live this far north, Alaska in this time was warm and lush compared to the climate now. In the northern edges, there were extended months of winter dark though it was warmer as opposed to the cold of today's Alaska. During this particular time, it was at 43 degrees Fahrenheit with incidences of snow too.
A lost world is where the Ugrunaaluk and other discoveries that are newly discovered in science. This adds to more information about the distribution of dinosaurs during the dinosaur age. From the 80s onwards, the University of Alaska Museum of the North and other institutions have found more than 9000 bones. These bones are not just only the duck-bill, other species as well that got deposited at the Prince Creek Formation.
Most of the bones from Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis are found in one layer called the Liscomb Bonebed. It contains bones of the Ugrunaaluk duck-bill, in a layer that is 2 to 3 feet deep, which is very important as to find.
One speculation from a particular section in the bone bed, fossils of juvenile Ugrunaaluk were killed, and their skeletons are the majority in that place. Measurements of the specimens are about 9 feet long, and three feet from foot to hips. This duck-bill dino might be related to the Edmontosaurus, which lived in another warmer climb, about 70 million years ago (MYA) in Alberta, Montana and South Dakota.
The Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis might have been related to the Edmontosaurus, they had distinct differences in the fossils and no similarity. One main difference noticed by the scientists is very distinct bone structures in the skull and the mouth of the dinosaur.
Many fossilized remains from other species are from younger animals as well, finding out what makes hadrosaurs different from each other important. Another is if there was a difference between them and other duck-bills. Good thing bones were preserved from older individuals of Ugrunaaluk, which helped them identify a new species of hadrosaur.
Found in the formation are 13 species of dinosaurs that were group depending on the teeth, and other bones left. Learning more about how they lived will answer how they adapted to the environment considered normal. Discovery of the Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis opens a new chapter on how they survived the conditions they lived in.
Read: Scientists Discover the Remains of Cold Weather Dinosaurs
