The pandemic has left a huge cache of dinosaur bones stuck in the Sahara
Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post
Feb. 12, 2021
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NIAMEY, Niger - In secret patches of the south-central Sahara, blankets of sand hide 20 tons of dinosaur bones.
There are flying reptiles. A creature that resembles an armored dog. Eleven species yet to be identified - all with long necks. They roamed the desert when it was still green, scientists concluded, as far back as 200 million years ago.
This is one of Africa s biggest fossil caches, a prehistoric graveyard that sparked dreams of a world-class exhibition in Niger. The rare discovery is vulnerable to looters and collapsing dunes. But excavation must wait as the nation confronts a second wave of the coronavirus on top of escalating Islamist insurgencies.