Rare Dinosaur Skeleton Covered in Fossilized Skin Found in Canada

CC0 / / Dinosaur
Dinosaur - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.09.2022
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Having originally discovered the fossil back in 2021, researchers are now working to have it excavated and transported to the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Preparation Lab for assessment.
An ancient fossil of what may be an entire dinosaur skeleton has been found in the Canadian province of Alberta.
The fossil of a duck-billed herbivorous dinosaur known as the hadrosaur was originally discovered last year during a field school scouting visit when one volunteer crew member spotted the fossil protruding from a hillside, according to a press release by the University of Reading.
This year, a team that includes academics and students from the University of Reading and the University of New England in Australia, in collaboration with the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Canada, seeks to excavate the fossil.

“This is a very exciting discovery and we hope to complete the excavation over the next two field seasons,” said Dr. Brian Pickles from the University of Reading, who led the search when the dinosaur’s remains were originally found. “Based on the small size of the tail and foot, this is likely to be a juvenile. Although adult duck-billed dinosaurs are well represented in the fossil record, younger animals are far less common. This means the find could help palaeontologists to understand how hadrosaurs grew and developed.”

Dr. Caleb Brown from the Royal Tyrrell Museum has explained that while hardosaur fossils are “relatively common” in that part of the world, the discovery in question stands out due to the fact that “large areas of the exposed skeleton are covered in fossilized skin.”
“This suggests that there may be even more preserved skin within the rock, which can give us further insight into what the hadrosaur looked like,” he added.
It may take researchers several months to collect the entire fossilized skeleton, the press release notes. Upon completion of the process, the fossil is going to be delivered to the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Preparation Lab, where technicians will assess the skeleton’s condition.
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