User:Allecher/Cal Orcko

/**/

Cal Orcko (Voice Quechua Cal Urqu, 'Hill of Cal') is a paleontological site in Bolivia, found in the quarry of a cement factory, near the city of Sucre in the Chuquisaca Department. It is one of the largest sites of its type in the world because it contains over 5,000 tracks of 294 species of dinosaurs.

The discovery is a huge contribution to history and science because it reveals previously unknown information about the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary, about 66 million years ago, and documents the high diversity of dinosaurs better than any other place in the world. Until this discovery, the largest and most important site was Khjoda-Pil-ata, in Turkmenistan, and others in Portugal, Great Britain, Spain and Switzerland. Cal Orcko is several times larger than those in other parts of the world which average only 220 tracks and a couple of species.

Location
The site is located in the town of Quila Quila about 4.5 km east of the city of Sucre. The huge reservoir is located on a cliff with a slope of 73 degrees, 80 meters high and 1,200 meters long. There are traces of 294 different species of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period.

History
The site was first discovered in 1985, but it was not until the years 1994 to 1998 when a team of Bolivian, European and American paleontologists led by Christian Meyer studied and certified the bed. Workers at the quarry called their attention to rare prints which were identified by local experts as traces of dinosaurs. Despite that Meyer could not get foreign experts visiting the site. Subsequently tourism documentary came to Switzerland did accelerate the heartbeat of a Swiss researcher of prehistory Cristian Meyer; a specialist in dinosaur footprints who traveled to Sucre and was fascinated by what he saw. "It was a vision that left you breathless." The researcher personally knew all the important sites in the world, from Canada through the Seychelles to Turkmenistan.

Cal Urqu is a windfall for several reasons. For starters, the magnitude of the limestone wall is impressive, more than 25,000 square meters, the area of ​​several football fields full of impressions of footprints. Meyer concludes that 68 million years ago, dinosaurs lived on the shores of a shallow lake, sweet and warm water, which extended from the current Peru-Bolivian border to northern Argentina.

Cal Urqu was in the Late Cretaceous immense shallow lake. In the Tertiary period, when the Andes formed, tectonic movements pushed the former bed to an upright position.

In recent years they have discovered eight sites currently under study. One of the discoveries that astonished everyone were the footprints of Ankylosaurus, a herbivorous quadruped believed to exist in South America. This animal was depicted as a clumsy giant armadillo about eight metric tons, but after studying his footsteps was shown to be taller, slender, long-legged lizard and faster.

Traces were also found of herbivorous sauropods, including the giant Titanosaur, 25 meters (82 feet) high and footprints 70 centimeters (27 inches) long, and large predators like theropods footprints 35 centimeters (14 inches). Footprints were also found of turtles, crocodiles, fish and algae from the Late Cretaceous, which enable paleontologists more accurate studies on the time period. That the footprints of dinosaurs and the remains of turtles, crocodiles, fish and algae are the end Cretaceous is very lucky to Meyer. So far almost no data existed of that time.

Cretaceous Park
A Cretaceous Park for the preservation of the site was opened in March 2006. There are exact replicas of the different species of dinosaurs that left their mark on the place, along with a museum audiovisual to transport visitors to the prehistory. The creation of this park is due to the cooperation of the IDB, FANCESA , SOBOCE plus sculptors of Bolivian origin.