The detectives analyzed a fossil of a dinosaur called Edmontosaurus from North Dakota. It features large spots of desiccated and apparently deflated skin on the limbs and tail. Bite marks from carnivores on the dinosaurs skin were recognized by the scientists. These are the very first recorded examples of unhealed carnivore damage on fossil dinosaur skin. This is evidence that the dinosaur carcass was not secured from scavengers, yet it became a mummy.
Removal of internal soft tissues and drain of fluids and gasses associated with decomposition permits the deflated skin and other dermal tissues to desiccate and curtain over the underlying bones. This process assists in longer-term determination of the skin and other resistant soft tissues until ultimate burial and fossilization.
Modern animal carcasses are understood to be frequently cleared out, leaving behind skin and bone as decomposers and scavengers target internal tissues. The authors propose that damage to this dinosaurs skin from this insufficient scavenging would have exposed its withins. This would have allowed a comparable procedure to happen, after which the skin and bones ended up being gradually desiccated and buried.
This procedure, which the authors call “desiccation and deflation,” is common with modern carcasses and explains how dinosaur mummies may form under relatively ordinary circumstances. Nevertheless, the researchers tension that there are most likely many pathways by which a dinosaur mummy might develop. Comprehending these mechanisms will direct how paleontologists gather and interpret such rare and useful fossils.
Clint Boyd, Senior Paleontologist at the North Dakota Geological Survey, adds: “Not just has Dakota taught us that durable soft tissues like skin can be preserved on partially scavenged carcasses, however these soft tissues can also provide a special source of details about the other animals that communicated with a carcass after death.”.
Recommendation: Biostratinomic alterations of an Edmontosaurus “mummy” expose a path for soft tissue preservation without conjuring up “exceptional conditions” by Stephanie K. Drumheller, Clint A. Boyd, Becky M. S. Barnes and Mindy L. Householder, 12 October 2022, PLOS ONE.DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0275240.
Life restoration of Edmontosaurus. Credit: Natee Puttapipat, CC-BY 4.0
Data from fossils and contemporary carcasses shows a basic path to preserving dinosaur skin.
Dinosaur “mummies” arent as extraordinary as we may expect. Thats since of a relatively easy procedure of desiccation (drying out) and deflation, according to a research study by Stephanie Drumheller of the University of Tennessee– Knoxville and coworkers that was released on October 12, 2022, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The term “mummy” is frequently used to explain dinosaur fossils with fossilized skin. These are fairly rare. Numerous scientists believe that such fossils just form under extraordinary scenarios. Thats since it is believed that in order for skin to become fossilized, a carcass should be protected from scavenging and decomposition by rapid burial and/or desiccation. Drumheller and colleagues propose a novel explanation for how such “mummies” might form in this research study, where they integrated insights from fossil evidence with observations on modern animal carcasses.
The term “mummy” is typically used to explain dinosaur fossils with fossilized skin. Bite marks from carnivores on the dinosaurs skin were identified by the scientists. These are the first recorded examples of unhealed carnivore damage on fossil dinosaur skin. Modern animal carcasses are known to be frequently emptied out, leaving behind skin and bone as scavengers and decomposers target internal tissues. The authors propose that damage to this dinosaurs skin from this insufficient scavenging would have exposed its withins.