Argentine science opens its fieldwork to the general public with an unusual proposal: Conicet will broadcast live from Patagonia a paleontological campaign focused on the search for dinosaur remains which could be new to science.
The operation, called Cretaceous Expedition I, will be based in RÃo Negro and will allow for close monitoring of the day-to-day excavations and life at the camp. There will be five days of broadcasts, of October 6 to 10, in an environment that has already yielded top-level discoveries.
How to follow the expedition live
The team will share progress, explanations, and supplementary material through its official channels: YouTube @paleocueva_lacev and Instagram @paleocueva.lacevIn addition to the live broadcasts, there will be short videos, photos, and virtual workshops for those who want to delve deeper into the fieldwork.
Connections will show, in real time, how they are detected outcrops with fossils, how the remains are identified, and the logistics behind a campaign in such challenging terrain. There will be time for questions from the audience and to learn about the steps the materials take until they are studied in the laboratory. from the site to the museum.
Scientific objective: return to the key site
The mission returns to a point located at 30 kilometers from General Roca, where in 2024 a claw attributed to an alvarezsaurid linked to Bonapartenykus ultimus, a dinosaur that inhabited the region some 70 million years ago, was recovered.
The purpose is to accurately excavate the same stratum to try to recover more pieces of the skeleton and assess whether it is an undescribed formIf sufficient, well-preserved elements are found, the discovery could confirm a new species of carnivorous dinosaur.
The team and the site
The campaign is led by the Laboratory of Comparative Anatomy and Evolution of Vertebrates (LACEV of MACN, CONICET) in conjunction with the Félix de Azara Foundation, with extensive experience in field work and fossil preparation.
The excavation area, with an estimated age of 70 million years, is considered an exceptional window into understanding what life was like shortly before the great Cretaceous extinction.
In previous campaigns the site has yielded remarkable diversity: fossil clutches, small mammals, snakes and lizards, as well as remains of large reptiles, making it a reference enclave in South America.
Background and expectations
Conicet has already tested the format with a underwater expedition which garnered thousands of views and brought the public closer to real-time research, a precedent that inspires optimism for this new paleontological event.
The team remembers that the key will be to combine the rigor of the work with a clear narrative: there are not always spectacular discoveries in front of the camera, but the satellite connection and the account of the process allows us to appreciate how a scientific excavation progresses.
Interest in dinosaurs in Argentina has been around for a long time and has not waned: names like Patagotitan mayorum, Argentinosaurus or Giganotosaurus popularized the country's potential, and this live broadcast opens a new avenue to follow its paleontological heritage.
With dates and channels already defined, the proposal invites you to follow step by step the progress of a real excavation In Patagonia: from October 6 to 10, on YouTube @paleocueva_lacev and Instagram @paleocueva.lacev, from a RÃo Negro site that could provide decisive evidence about a still unknown dinosaur.
