Scientists from St. Petersburg Mining University joined the study of the Early Cretaceous complex of Shestakovo locations in the Kemerovo region, where new species of dinosaurs were found.
This story began back in 1953, when fragments of a small plant-eating dinosaur were found near the Kiya River near the village of Shestakovo. They were sent to the Paleontological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where they were later identified as remains of Psittacosaurus genus, an early Asian species of horned dinosaurs. Although nine species of Psittacosaurus are known today, the found specimen was different from the others. It was a big surprise: the region is known all over the world for its coal beds, and suddenly prehistoric animals! However, despite all the sensationalism and promise of further research, the location was temporarily forgotten, thinking that the find was an accident.
Systematic investigations - excavations and stratigraphic works - began only in the early 1990s. Over several years at Shestakovsky Yar paleontologists discovered several large burial sites and revealed a rich fauna, including representatives of such taxa as fish, amphibians, turtles, crocodile-like reptiles, dinosaurs, flying lizards (pterosaurs), birds, beast-eating reptiles and mammals.
But the most important was the discovery in 1999 of two complete psittacosaur skeletons in the anatomical junction. Their description confirmed the earlier hypothesis of the identification of a separate psittacosaur species, named Psittacosaurus sibiricus. They lived about 130-100 million years ago and were bipedal herbivores, relatively small in size (up to 2-2.5 m long) with a distinctive powerful beak. This is how they earned their nickname - Parrot Dinosaur. To date, this species is known only from the Shestakovsky vertebrate complex in the Kemerovo region.
In addition to the fact that Shestakovo gave the world historically the first find of a Russian mammal of Mesozoic age and material for the description of the second unique dinosaur: Sibirotitan astrosacralis. It belongs to the sauropods, a group of the largest terrestrial vertebrates that ever existed on Earth.
For reference: 11 species of original dinosaurs, which do not exist anywhere else in the world, were recorded in Russia in total. Thus, two of them were found exactly in the Shestakovsky complex. Given its age (early Cretaceous) and the discovery there of complete dinosaur skeletons, the location can rightly be called exceptional in its kind.
The delegation of the Mining University consisting of Irina Talovina, the head of the department of historical and dynamic geology and representatives of the Mining Museum famous for its rich paleontological collection, visited "Kuzbass home of the dinosaurs" in July 2022.
"For the first time in Russia we carry out research work, including simultaneously complex geological and paleontological investigations. Traditionally, excavations of fossil remains are of little interest to qualified geologists, who are primarily focused on mineral exploration. Obviously, paleontology is an exclusively fundamental science, far removed from the economic success of the country's mineral complex. However, together with geology it can answer the questions concerning the development of the Earth", - noted Irina Talovina.
Under her guidance, reconnaissance work, lithogeochemical sampling of the Shestakovo-1 (sibirotitan) and Shestakovo-3 (psittacosaurs) locations, and sampling for isotopic analysis were carried out. The geological section was also studied and patterns of locations of large skeletons and clusters of bone remains were identified.
The location is a promising site for geochemistry studies. Selected samples, examined today by specialists of the university in laboratory conditions, will allow to reveal paleogeographical and taphonomic (burial conditions) features of the Shestakovsky complex. Thanks to the research scientists will be able to determine the composition and nature of the rock, and thus answer the question: what could have caused the mass death of prehistoric animals in the Kemerovo region.
An equally important goal that geologists have set for themselves is to search with the help of geophysical equipment for large burial sites of dinosaur remains.
"The Mining Museum's paleontological collection has been collected in Russia and abroad for many years and is now represented by thousands of fossils, from microscopically simple invertebrates to complete mammalian skeletons. The study of dinosaur faunas by scientists and graduates of the Mining University has a long tradition. The first Russian scientist fully engaged in the study of dinosaurs was a graduate and professor of the Mining University - Anatoly Ryabinin, who described historically the first Russian dinosaur - Manchzhurosaurus (now recognized as disqualified). Another famous Russian paleontologist was a fiction writer Ivan Efremov, also a graduate and professor at the Mining University, which back in 1957, foresaw the possibility of finding the remains of vertebrates at Shestokovsky Yar, in connection with what he instructed in correspondence with Kemerovo people to search the area. Today, the main coordinator of excavations is the Kuzbass Local Lore Museum, a partner of the Mining University and the museum "- said the director of the Mining Museum, Mikhail Shabalov.
It is necessary to notice that conditions of life and death of dinosaurs remain one of the most popular themes among not only youth, but also adults all over the world. This is evidenced by both the ratings of films in the spirit of "Jurassic Park" and attendance at thematic events. For example, cultural and tourist festival "Dinoterra", which has already become annual for Kuzbass, this year brought together about 20 000 participants. The research of St. Petersburg geologists will bring real facts and grounded theories to this fertile ground for fantasies.
