Fossil stays from the animal world of that time– consisting of marine and coastal dwellers– have been preserved in the sediment.There is still some debate to this day about the animal group to which these big, fossilized bones belonged. “Osteohistology– the analysis of bone tissue– can therefore be utilized to draw conclusions about the animal group from which the discover originates. He then utilized an unique microscopic lense to prove that the bone wall had a very unusual structure: It included long strands of mineralized collagen, a protein fiber, which were linked in a particular method that had actually not yet been found in other bones.Ichthyosaur bones with a similar structureInterestingly, fossils from big ichthyosaurs from Canada also have a really similar bone wall structure. Nearly all species of ichthyosaur then passed away out at the end of the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago.The unusual structure of their bone walls– which is similar to carbon fiber-reinforced products– most likely kept the bone extremely steady while allowing for fast growth.”Reference: “The dinosaurs that werent: osteohistology supports huge ichthyosaur affinity of enigmatic big bone sectors from the European Rhaetian” by Marcello Perillo and P Martin Sander, 9 April 2024, PeerJ.DOI: 10.7717/ peerj.17060 Marcello Perillo was moneyed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Fossil stays from the animal world of that time– consisting of marine and seaside residents– have actually been preserved in the sediment.There is still some dispute to this day about the animal group to which these large, fossilized bones belonged. He then utilized a special microscopic lense to prove that the bone wall had an extremely uncommon structure: It consisted of long strands of mineralized collagen, a protein fiber, which were linked in a characteristic way that had not yet been found in other bones.Ichthyosaur bones with a similar structureInterestingly, fossils from large ichthyosaurs from Canada also have an extremely comparable bone wall structure. Nearly all species of ichthyosaur then died out at the end of the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago.The unusual structure of their bone walls– which is similar to carbon fiber-reinforced materials– most likely kept the bone extremely stable while allowing for fast development.