Partially Preserved Dinosaur Skeleton Found in Uttarakhand: Fact Check

Story:

Partially preserved Dinosaur Skeleton found in Uttarakhand

Other Versions

1. Well preserved remains of dinosaur creature found in Uttarakhand

2. Dinosaur Skeleton found in Uttarakhand

3. Dinosaur with flesh and bones found in a small town of Uttarakhand

Fact Check:

A story widespread in India and elsewhere on the internet claims that partially preserved Skeleton remains of a Dinosaur was found in Uttarakhand. Let us analyze whether the discovery of a Dinosaur Skeleton in Uttarakhand having flesh and bones is true or false.

Picture about Partially Preserved Dinosaur Skeleton Found in UttarakhandPartially Preserved Dinosaur Skeleton Found in Uttarakhand — Partially Preserved Dinosaur Skeleton Found in Uttarakhand

Claims of Dinosaur Skeleton Found in Uttarakhand

Since 19 Nov. 2017 many online outlets started reporting that partially, or even well-preserved skeleton remains of a Dinosaur was found in Jaspur of Indian State Uttarakhand. An electrician found the creature buried under a pile of rubbish in a storeroom of an abandoned Electric substation. In reality, the animal corpse had a 28cm-long torso, 9 cm head, 5 cm neck. While some locals called it Dinosaur, others suggested it resembles Dinosaur species Deinonychus, the Coelophysis and the Dromaeosaurus.

Initial Reports of Discovery

As shown in (Hindi) video below, initial Police report too said the skeleton remains closely resemble a Dinosaur. It was however sent to a lab for scientific examination. Dr. Parag Madhukar Dhakate, Conservator of Forests in Uttarakhand tweeted about the animal skeleton find. He added that conducting DNA test and Carbon dating will reveal its identity.

Remain of a animal skeleton looking similar to a dinosaur found in Jaspur Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand.
Speculation regarding the truth will be done by DNA test Carbon Dating which will ascertain the truth in coming days. @drharshvardhan @drharaksrawat #paragenetics pic.twitter.com/i4cX2Wucp7

— Dr. PM Dhakate (@paragenetics) November 19, 2017

Cannot be a Dinosaur Skeleton

Firstly, flightless Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years now. Moreover, the animal corpse in question has some flesh left on it. So it is likely to have died in recent years. Also note, the animal corpse is very small. Few experts thought it is a genetically distorted fetus of an animal belonging to the goat family. Certain species of goat and few sheep do in fact have long tails at birth.

The animal has short front legs and a long tail. So there’s a slight possibility it could be a kangaroo.However, kangaroos are not native to India. The animal could also belong to a species of a local mammal-like Mongoose, or may even be a Marten.