A rare dinosaur mummy has well preserved skin, likely because of a series of unusual but crucial events after death.
. Dakota had large patches of dry and seemingly deflated skin on its limbs and tail. The unhealed skin damage from its encounter with ancient crocodiles provides evidence that it became a mummy even though it wasn’t protected from scavengers.Scavengers, like modern-day vultures, typically go after internal tissues and organs, which leaves behind the skin and bones. The bites to remove the organs helps gasses and liquids escape, helping the skin and bones dry out.
“Not only has Dakota taught us that durable soft tissues like skin can be preserved on partially scavenged carcasses, but these soft tissues can also provide a unique source of information about the other animals that interacted with a carcass after death,” Clint Boyd, senior paleontologist at the North Dakota Geological Survey, saidDesiccation and deflation is common with present day carcasses and explains how dinosaur mummies might actually be able to form.
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