A dinosaur skeleton and skin puzzles the researchers. The skin of the 70-million-year-old primeval lizard should actually have decomposed long ago.
North Dakota – When the remains of a new dinosaur are found, the whole scientific world still gets in a frenzy. It is too exciting to decode aspects of the life of the primeval lizards that walked the earth millions of years ago. A For example, Dino gave the researchers clues as to why the T-Rex had such short arms. In most cases, the finds are bones, as they are usually the only thing left when a dead body decomposes. The discovery of a mummified dinosaur in North Dakota is all the more astonishing.
The term mummification is commonly associated with the culture of ancient Egypt, in which the bodies of deceased rulers were embalmed and preserved. While this procedure was done by human hands, a mummification process can also take place naturally. The remains of the 70-million-year-old dinosaur, discovered in North Dakota, are in such good condition that bite marks have been found on the lizard’s skin. Since skin, like meat and muscle tissue, breaks down in the process of decomposition, the researchers assume that the dinosaur was mummified.
Dinosaur skin with bite marks still in good condition after 70 million years
Although paleontologists already have a great deal of knowledge about the way of life of prehistoric lizards, new finds always bring new insights. In Chile, for example, unearthed the fossil of a pregnant dinosaur. In the case of the find in the Hell Creek Formation in the south of the US state of North Dakota, the unusually good condition of the dinosaur provided information about the enemies of the prehistoric giants. According to Stephanie Drumheller-Horton, a paleontologist at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, after 70 million years, the 7-meter-long dinosaur’s skin is so well preserved that multiple bite marks and scratches can be seen, the portal reports New Scientist.
The bite marks on the dinosaur’s well-preserved skin would resemble those of a crocodile, explained Stephanie Drumheller-Horten. Researchers had previously found dinosaur remains inside a crocodile, but in the case of a seven-meter-long specimen, the experts suspect a larger carnivore, such as a Tyrannosaurus Rex, as the cause of the bite wounds. In addition, other marks on the skin and bones of the dinosaur found would suggest that several other animals had also attacked the carcass after the death.
Bite marks shed light on dinosaur mummification
According to the researchers, it is precisely this fact that is responsible for the unusually good condition of the dinosaur they found. Actually, the skin found should no longer exist after the decomposition process. Flesh and muscles are no longer included in the find, only skin and bones are left. The researchers assume that the attacks of the animals hollowed out the carcass and thus slowed down the decomposition process of the skin. “Instead of all the organs keeping the body wet and fueling the decomposition process, they were out of the way,” Drumheller-Horton explained the theory.
The animals ate the skin, muscle fibers and organs out of the dinosaur carcass, leaving only skin and bones. “As far as Halloween is approaching, I jokingly say it’s a skeleton in a skin sac,” the paleontologist said. According to the experts, the discovery of the dinosaur skin refutes the opinion that mummification at that time could only occur if the body dried out quickly or was quickly buried in the ground. It also suggests that dinosaur mummification was not as uncommon as previously thought, since many partially eaten carcasses quickly dried out before being covered by layers of soil.
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