Dinosaurs at the MEF
The paleontology
museum “Egidio Feruglio” (MEF) is a relevant and modern proposal as
regards museums in Patagonia Argentina. Visitors are invited to live
an extraordinary experience as it is the possibility of knowing part
of our planet’s history.
Argentina's ground is quite rich in dinosaur fossils. Such great wealth
has allowed scientists to reconstruct the natural history of these animals
In Patagonia, factors such as continuous erosion by wind and water exposed
several geological layers with large deposits of both terrestrial and
marine sediments. Such findings promoted a sustained development of
paleontological research since early last century.
The history of dinosaurs started in the middle of the Triassic period,
about 220 million years ago. The world was quite different back then,
and so was the environment.
Continents were joined together in one large continent called Pangea.
By the end of the Triassic, there were two main regions or provinces
within this continent: Laurasia (North) and Gondwana (South). Later,
during the Jurassic, both provinces split apart and formed two separated
continents.
At the time, the South Atlantic did not yet exist. Thus, Patagonia's
lands spread out towards East, joining South Africa and possibly the
Western half of Antarctica. On the Western coast of Patagonia, the Pacific
Ocean was already bathing its shores, but the land was quite flat, for
the Andes Mountains had not yet formed.


