For dozens of years, dinosaurs were known to mostly live in warm, tropical climates. In the past few decades, though, more and more examples of colder climate living dinosaurs have come up. For instance, evidence has been found in the form of Ugrunaaluk kukpikensis (pronounced oo-GREW-na-luck KOOK-pik-en-sis) meaning “ancient grazer of the Colville River” in the language of the Inupiaq Inuit of Alaska. The bones of this creature were found in Liscomb Bone Bed in the Prince Creek Formation, a fossil site where over 9,000 bones of many species have been found. The fossils of Ugrunaaluk in particular were found along the Colville River, a location more than 300 miles northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. What makes the find of the dinosaur so interesting is that investigators found not one skeleton, or two, but at least 6,000 skeletons of Ugrunaaluk. The amount found in similar in number to the amount of the same types of dinosaur found in tropical regions. The creature was part of the duck billed dinosaur, or Hadrosaurs, family, and would have grown up to 30 feet long. In addition, it would have had hundreds and hundreds of teeth for chewing up its diet of leaves and other foliage (grass had not evolved at this point in history). All in all, I believe a big scientific dispute has been made.
Written by James Bilinsky