In Argentina, a local farmer has discovered four giant fossilized armadillos.
The find was made in 2020 near the Vallimanca River in San Carlos de Bolivar.
These ancient animals weighed up to 1.5 tons. They are thought to have become extinct 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age.
What they looked like is shown on the last slide.
But what's strange about this find is this. For some reason, a whole group of animals got trapped in the ground and fossilized.
Did they fall into a swampy area or the river was a mudflow, from which they did not have time to escape? I also wonder why the carcasses were preserved.
What processes led to the fossilization? For some reason, bacteria and protozoa did not process the organics of the tissue.
It's likely that the fossilization process was rapid, too. Fossilization can be compared to cementation, when organics are soaked in mineral solution and crystallize.
So the place where the armadillos ended up wasn't just a swampy area.
The find was made in 2020 near the Vallimanca River in San Carlos de Bolivar.
These ancient animals weighed up to 1.5 tons. They are thought to have become extinct 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age.
What they looked like is shown on the last slide.
But what's strange about this find is this. For some reason, a whole group of animals got trapped in the ground and fossilized.
Did they fall into a swampy area or the river was a mudflow, from which they did not have time to escape? I also wonder why the carcasses were preserved.
What processes led to the fossilization? For some reason, bacteria and protozoa did not process the organics of the tissue.
It's likely that the fossilization process was rapid, too. Fossilization can be compared to cementation, when organics are soaked in mineral solution and crystallize.
So the place where the armadillos ended up wasn't just a swampy area.
