Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
But
Aucasaurus
was not the top predator on the ancient Patago-
nian plains. Based on our current but incomplete knowledge, that
distinction fell to an even larger theropod. To date, we have found
only a few bits and pieces of its skeleton, but these fragments sug-
gest that the animal was as large as the largest carnivorous dinosaurs
yet discovered, such as
Tyrannosaurus
and
Giganotosaurus. A
solitary
predator of this size would have constituted a threat even to an adult
sauropod of the size that lived at Auca Mahuevo, and evidence exists
to suggest that some of these superpredators congregated in packs,
making them a danger for even the largest sauropods.
In all, this portrait of life in ancient Patagonia, painted in the pic-
turesque rocks and fossils that form the modern desert landscape, has
greatly augmented our scientific knowledge about dinosaurs and the
environment they lived in. Through the window at Auca Mahuevo, we
have caught our first glimpse of what sauropods looked like when they
first hatched. We can now be certain that they did lay large eggs and
that, at least in the case of these South American sauropods, they laid
those eggs in well-developed nests contained within a massive nesting
colony frequented by at least hundreds of mothers at one time. The
rocky pages of evolutionary history at Auca Mahuevo document that
these sauropods returned to the nesting colony numerous times to
breed and thereby sustain their majestic evolutionary lineage.
These discoveries and the insights that they have provided repre-
sent a true paleontologic treasure. Yet the clues buried in the rocks
required to reconstruct the ancient events at Auca Mahuevo were not
easily found. Serendipity played its usual role, but beyond that, the dis-
coveries represent determined and well-coordinated scientific
sleuthing by all of the crew members who participated in our expe-
ditions. As we have documented, such work does not simply involve
the ecstasy of initial discovery. To see clearly through the window on
the past that Auca Mahuevo provides, that initial thrill must subse-
quently be supplemented with laborious and meticulous scientific
investigations, both in the field and back at the lab. That work
requires the expertise of dozens of geologic and paleontologic spe-
cialists, as well as a lot of time and money, and we are extremely grate-
ful to all of our colleagues who have lent their knowledge and to all of
the organizations that have financially supported the research.
The most rewarding part of our work is that, although this topic is
