Did Dinosaurs Ever Live in Scandinavia?
Were there dinosaurs in Scandinavia? Or was the climate too cold for the creatures?
Sure. Footprints, teeth, and bone fragments from about 20 different dinosaurs have been found – the majority of them in Sweden.
At the time when dinosaurs dominated the world, the Scandinavian climate was favourable for the huge animals. Northern Europe was much closer to the Equator, and global temperatures were quite a lot higher – particularly in the Arctic, making the Scandinavian climate subtropical.
Sediments from the heyday of dinosaurs in the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous geological periods are however located far below Earth’s surface in most places of Scandinavia. Many sediments are pure calcium deposited under the sea, where scientists cannot make excavations, so only a few dinosaur remains have been discovered in Scandinavia.