Dinosaurs in Carlsbad

Carlsbad and most of North County San Diego has been mostly undisturbed for the past 70 million years. The coastal region has been above and below sea level several times, but we have not had any major erosion, volcanic eruption or mountain rise. Only 20,000 years ago, at the beginning of the end of the last ice age, the cost was miles out to sea; one of the islands in front of Los Angeles may have been in contact with the continent.

The folowing map was produced by the U.s. Geological Survey, for Carlsbad, and it shows in different colors the ages of the terrain and hills in this town. There is an area (marked Kt, in light green) that is over 70 million years old (Cretaceous period, meaning “chalk” period), where the local dinosaurs where found. The Carlsbad Ankylosaurs is the only one of its kind in the world, according to a presentation given by Thomas Demerė, from the San Diego Museum of Natural History. The other dinosaur found is commonly known as a Hadrosaurus, and it has a duck bill and a back protruding head.

Below is a picture of Cretaceous rocks, found somewhere else in the world.

Ankylosaurus

Hadrosaurus

About 66 Million years ago, there was a catastrophic event (possibly a meteor collision) that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs (except for the bird's ancestors). This is why it is fundamental to look for Cretaceous (or earlier) rock formations in the search for dinosaurs.


Dinosaurs of San Diego County

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