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Due to the everlasting popularity of dinosaurs, the last period of the dinosaurs, the
Cretaceous, has become a well known period. When people think of the Cretaceous, they
may think of paleontologists digging in African Deserts and regions in China. When
thinking of the Cretaceous in the U.S., many people think of the Western North American
Bad Lands in places such as Montana and Alberta.
However, not many people know that America's East Coast has its share in Dinosaurs! For example, if you know where to look one can find well preserved dinosaur footprints at Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania. Parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Northern Maryland all contain fossil deposits from the age of dinosaurs. |
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New Jersey was also submerged. Since it was just off the ancient coast of North
America, marine fossils abound at the Big Brook area. Numerous species of sharks can
be found, as well as invertebrates such as mollusks and Belemnites. Also, the great
reptiles that ruled the seas in the Cretaceous can occasionally be found. These creatures
include Mosasaurs, Pleisiosaurs, and large Crocodiles.
However, since this area was only miles from the coast, the remains of land animals occasionally washed out to sea. Although rare, fossils of land animals can be found. These remains are often pieces of dinosaurs, such as Hadrosaur teeth, and bone fragments. These fossils have been washed out of their sediments by the water action, and can simply be found in Big Brook and surrounding brooks by screening gravel bars, and walking the creek beds. |
