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Amazing find of dinosaur 'mummy'
BBC Science-Nature ^ | December 3, 2207 | U/A

Posted on 12/11/2007 6:25:53 PM PST by Fred Nerks

Amazing find of dinosaur 'mummy'

Scientists now think these dinosaurs were more muscular than previously thought

Fossil hunters have uncovered the remains of a dinosaur that has much of its soft tissue still intact. Skin, muscle, tendons and other tissue that rarely survive fossilisation have all been preserved in the specimen unearthed in North Dakota, US.

The 67 million-year-old dinosaur is one of the duck-billed hadrosaur group.

The preservation allowed scientists to estimate that it was more muscular than thought, perhaps giving it the ability to outrun predators like T. rex.

The researchers propose that the dinosaur's rump was 25% larger than had previously been thought. This probably meant more muscle mass and therefore greater acceleration, giving it a greater chance of evading meat-eating dinosaurs in hot pursuit.

Depth and structure

While it has been dubbed a dinosaur "mummy", the dinosaur is actually fossilised into stone.

But unlike the collections of bones found in many museums, this hadrosaur came complete with fossilised skin, ligaments, tendons and possibly some internal organs, according to researchers.

"It's unbelievable when you look at it for the first time," said palaeontologist Phillip Manning from the University of Manchester, UK.

The scales are still visible on the fossilised skin "There is depth and structure to the skin. The level of detail expressed in the skin is just breathtaking."

Dr Manning said there was a pattern of banding to the larger and smaller scales on the skin.

Because it has been fossilised researchers do not know the colour of the skin. But looking at it in monochrome shows a striped pattern. He noted that in modern reptiles, such a pattern is often associated with transitions between different skin colours.

The fossil was found in 1999 and is now nicknamed Dakota. It is being analysed in the world's largest CT scanner, operated by the Boeing corporation.

The machine usually is used for space shuttle engines and other large objects. Researchers hope the technology will help them learn more about the fossilised insides of the creature.

The reptile had no chest cavity, suggesting it had been partially eaten by predators before being "mummified" in unusual conditions: acidic, waterlogged sediments collected around the dinosaur, triggering the rapid deposit of minerals and trapping organic molecules before they decayed.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: dakota; dinosaur; fossil; hadrosaur; maryschweitzer; paleontology
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Scientists now think these dinosaurs were more muscular than previously thought

The scales are still visible on the fossilised skin

1 posted on 12/11/2007 6:25:54 PM PST by Fred Nerks
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To: Fred Nerks; blam; SunkenCiv

“December 3, 2207 | U/A”
I have to question your date, but it is nice article.

;)


2 posted on 12/11/2007 6:28:36 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
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To: Fred Nerks

Excellent news. Finally science will be able to answer the age-old question about dinosaurs: did they taste like chicken?


3 posted on 12/11/2007 6:29:25 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: dynachrome

Whoops! I’m getting way ahead of myself...


4 posted on 12/11/2007 6:29:57 PM PST by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks

Upon close examination it still breathed after 67 million years.

LOL!

Sorry Fred, couldn't resist. Seriously, this find is amazing, as is the honeycomb structure of the skin!

5 posted on 12/11/2007 6:31:47 PM PST by SolidWood (Al Gore: "I have never heard of this, but I think it is a very good idea,")
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To: Fred Nerks

Must have been buried very quickly when it died. Like in some great flood.


6 posted on 12/11/2007 6:38:00 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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To: SolidWood

The fossilization is not quite complete on THAT one!


7 posted on 12/11/2007 6:39:21 PM PST by digger48
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To: Fred Nerks

nice find


8 posted on 12/11/2007 6:43:04 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Verginius Rufus
The researchers propose that the dinosaur's rump was 25% larger than had previously been thought.

And this could be another cause of dinosaur extinction, if the female hadrosaur asked a male hadrosaur: "Do these scales make my butt look bigger?"

9 posted on 12/11/2007 6:47:46 PM PST by xJones
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To: digger48
Archaeologists are among the most sexist of people. All we hear about is mummies, mummies, mummies and nary a word about daddies.
10 posted on 12/11/2007 6:50:31 PM PST by Socratic (“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom)
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To: Fred Nerks

That bottom photo looks like tire tracks.


11 posted on 12/11/2007 6:52:33 PM PST by keats5 (tolerance of intolerant people is cultural suicide)
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To: dynachrome

“December 3, 2207 | U/A”

WOW, talk about getting the scoop


12 posted on 12/11/2007 6:58:06 PM PST by sure_fine (• " not one to over kill the thought process " •)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

“Must have been buried very quickly when it died. Like in some great flood.”

maybe something like that mud slide in OR today


13 posted on 12/11/2007 6:59:10 PM PST by sure_fine (• " not one to over kill the thought process " •)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Must have been buried very quickly when it died. Like in some great flood.
_____________
Yep. A great flood 67 million years ago. Good call.


14 posted on 12/11/2007 6:59:32 PM PST by lp boonie (Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement)
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To: Fred Nerks; aculeus; dighton; Lijahsbubbe; martin_fierro
The scales are still visible on the fossilised skin "There is depth and structure to the skin. The level of detail expressed in the skin is just breathtaking."

"That's a good-looking mummy" to-ask-out-on-a-date-when-you-can't-lick-a-frog ping.

15 posted on 12/11/2007 7:12:56 PM PST by Ezekiel
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To: digger48; SunkenCiv; blam
DINOSAUR LINK.

Dino Leonardo used to live in Montana.

16 posted on 12/11/2007 7:16:24 PM PST by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Verginius Rufus

Not unless chicken tastes like rock.


17 posted on 12/11/2007 7:27:01 PM PST by ASA Vet
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To: Ezekiel; Fred Nerks; dighton; Lijahsbubbe; martin_fierro
Problem:

The scales are still visible on the fossilised skin ...

Solution:


18 posted on 12/11/2007 7:29:30 PM PST by aculeus
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To: Fred Nerks

bookmark


19 posted on 12/11/2007 7:49:20 PM PST by DocRock (All they that TAKE the sword shall perish with the sword. Matthew 26:52 Gun grabbers beware.)
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To: ASA Vet

Well, the story said the soft tissue was “intact.”


20 posted on 12/11/2007 7:53:13 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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