A group of neighbors who walked the shore of the lake in Middle Chocón ran into 12 footprints of a dinosaur, engraved on the rock. From the Ernesto Bachmann museum, they clarified that they are not a new find, they were already documented years ago, but there is no way to protect or extract them. They requested precaution not to damage them.
One of the neighbors sent a video of the discovery to Channel 7 of Neuquén and the images spread quickly on social media. In October of last year, there was another similar finding of prefecture personnel, on the Rio Negro shore of the lake, which also surprised everyone.
“Actually, the entire coast of Lake Ezequiel Ramos Mexía, from Villa El Chocón to Picún Leufú, is full of footprints of dinosaur footprints and there is a survey several years ago by the paleontologist Jorge Calvo, who documented all this, but they are traces that are covered with water for much of the year “, explained Mara Ripoll, director of the Bachmann museum.
Said there is no way to take those footprints to a museum or fence the site, as with the footprint trail that is in the urban area of El Chocón, where a footbridge was built for tourism. “Unfortunately, we have tried everything to do maintenance or protection of these traces that are documented, but until now we do not have a chemical to protect them and, being outdoors, they suffer deterioration from the wind and rain, so in To a certain extent, it is good that they are covered with water, “he explained.
He said that, “being made of flagstone, as is the shore of the lake, we cannot extract them either because the vibration can break them, except when the plate is very solidified, so we need that together we take care of them “.
He noted that “the level of the lake rises and falls and therefore can sometimes be seen; in this case, the lake dropped a lot and it is also a place where people began to go when before there was no one. “He added that” most of these footsteps are in deeper sectors and the most accessible are the ones we have in the village, with the catwalk “.
Commented that they found out through the media about the discovery of the neighbors, “because they did not come to make the complaint here, which is what is advised.” He recalled that “any finding of a fossil or material of scientific interest must be reported to the Province or the nearest museum.”
“These footprints They are in a part of Chocón Medio that is being urbanized, because they are private lands, and what we suggest is that they make a protection if they are going to promote them touristically, to avoid human contact that can damage them, “he explained.
It would be a carnivore from 100 million years ago
Mara Ripoll, director of the El Chocón museum, reported that the footprints that neighbors filmed they are from a carnivorous dinosaur, “although it is difficult to determine what type, because they cannot be studied as we do with fossils”
“The footprints have another scientific name, such as ichnites or icnitus from Latin, and they are studied like that, but they cannot be assigned to a specific dinosaur and say, for example, that a Giganoto passed by because there is no way to ensure it,” he clarified. .
He indicated that they can calculate seniority, “from between 95 and 107 million years, because the entire area of the El Chocón coast belongs to that time. “
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