One of the researchers participating noted, “We don’t only have a skeleton. We have a dinosaur in its prehistoric form.

It is being hailed as the best-preserved dinosaur specimen ever found by scientists. That’s why you can’t see its bones since its skin and armor are still in tact.

Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on TwitterNodosaur: highlight of the dino exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada. Robert Clark/National Geographic

The patterns on the skin of this fossilized nodosaur, which was discovered by mistake by miners in Canada, date back more than 110 million years. The dinosaur is so well-preserved, according to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada, which recently announced the discovery, that we may confidently refer to it as a “dinosaur mummy” rather than a “fossil.”

The holotype of Borealopelta on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta. Image credit: ケラトプスユウタ

The researchers examining the find were astounded at its nearly unprecedented level of preservation. The creature’s skin, armor, and even some of its guts were intact – something they’d never seen before.

“You don’t need to use much imagination to reconstruct it; if you just squint your eyes a bit, you could almost believe it was sleeping,” one researcher said.

Previously, only nodosaur skeletons have been discovered, which look like this:

Nodosaur bones at Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land, Fort Bend Co., Texas. Image credit: fossilmike

This dinosaur was built like a tank. A member of a newly discovered species called nodosaur, it was an enormous four-legged herbivore protected by a spiky, plated armor. It weighed approximately 3,000 pounds.

To give you an idea of how intact the mummified nodosaur is: it still weighs 2,500 pounds!

Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on TwitterNodosaur (armoured dinosaur) fossil discovered at the Suncor Mine near Fort McMurray by Government of Alberta

Although how the dinosaur mummy could remain so intact for so long remains somewhat of a mystery, researchers suggest that the nodosaur may have been swept away by a flooded river and carried out to sea, where it eventually sank to the ocean floor.

As millions of years passed, minerals could have settled on the dinosaur’s armor and skin. This might help explain why the creature was preserved in such a lifelike form.

Researchers have named the 5.5 metre (18-foot-long) nodosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli, in honour of Royal Tyrrell Museum technician Mark Mitchell, who spent over 7,000 hours carefully unearthing the fossil from its rocky grave.

Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on TwitterTechnician Mark Mitchell prepping the Nodosaur. Royal Tyrrell Museum

But how ‘lifelike’ is the specimen really? Well, apparently the preservation was so good that researchers were able to tell the dinosaur’s skin color by using mass spectrometry techniques to detect the actual pigments.

This way they found out that the nodosaur’s coloring was a dark reddish brown on the top of the body – and lighter on the underside. Since this dinosaur was an herbivore, its skin color must have played a role in protecting it from the enormous carnivores present at the time.

And the fact that we’re talking about a massive, heavily-armored dinosaur illustrates just how dangerous those predators must have been…

Robert Clark/National Geographic

The nodosaur was found by an unsuspecting excavator operator that uncovered the historic discovery while digging in an oil sands mine, according to the museum’s news release about the exhibit. 7,000 painstaking reconstruction hours later, the nodosaur was ready to meet the public.

As if the preservation of skin, armor, and guts weren’t impressive enough, the dinosaur mummy is also unique in that it was preserved in three dimensions, with the original shape of the animal retained.

According to one researcher, “it will go down in science history as one of the most beautiful and best preserved dinosaur specimens – the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs.”

Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on TwitterRobert Clark/National Geographic

The Mona Lisa of dinosaurs… It is indeed, isn’t it?

Source: earthlymission.com