US Paleontologists Reveal Complete Life Appearance of Duck-Billed Dinosaur
- MM24 News Desk
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
University of Chicago scientists have reconstructed the complete, fleshed-out appearance of a duck-billed dinosaur for the first time, using remarkably preserved "mummy" fossils that reveal a tall neck crest, spiked tail, and hoofed toes. Led by Professor Paul Sereno, PhD, the research uncovers a unique "clay templating" process that preserved the animal's skin in exquisite detail some 66 million years ago.
For over a century, the term "dinosaur mummy" has conjured images of skin and flesh miraculously preserved. But according to a new study published in Science, the reality is both more delicate and more fascinating. Researchers from the University of Chicago have cracked the code on how the carcasses of Edmontosaurus annectens were transformed into stunningly detailed fossils, allowing them to reconstruct the animal's life appearance with unprecedented confidence.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a complete, fleshed-out view of a large dinosaur that we can really feel confident about,” said senior author Paul Sereno, PhD, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at UChicago. The discovery, reported Science, emerged from a specific "mummy zone" in the badlands of east-central Wyoming, where several specimens were found.
So, what exactly is a dinosaur mummy if not preserved tissue? The team's investigation revealed a process they call "clay templating." After a dinosaur carcass dried in the sun, a sudden flash flood would bury it. A thin biofilm on the carcass surface then electrostatically attracted clay particles from the surrounding sediment, forming a mask no more than 1/100th of an inch thick. This clay layer perfectly conformed to the dinosaur's skin, creating a three-dimensional template that remained after the organic material decayed and the skeleton fossilized.
“This is a mask, a template, a clay layer so thin you could blow it away,” Sereno explained. “It was attracted to the outside of the carcass in a fluke event of preservation.” Exposing this fragile boundary required painstaking work by fossil preparator and co-author Tyler Keillor, who led hundreds of hours of careful cleaning.
The research team, which included postdoctoral scholar Evan Saitta, became scientific detectives. They employed a suite of advanced techniques—including hospital CT scans, 3D surface imaging, and clay analysis—to understand the preservation and reconstruct the animal. They studied two new mummies discovered by university undergraduates: a late juvenile and an early adult. “The two specimens complemented each other beautifully,” Sereno noted. “For the first time, we could see the whole profile rather than scattered patches.”
What did they see? The complete profile revealed a dinosaur with a continuous fleshy crest running along its neck and back. This crest then transitioned over the hips into a single row of prominent spikes running down the tail. The body was covered in surprisingly small, pebble-like scales, most just 1–4 millimeters across, which is tiny for an animal that grew over 40 feet long. Wrinkles over the ribcage suggested the skin was quite thin.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the feet. The hind toes were encased in distinct, wedge-shaped hooves with a flat bottom, much like a horse's hoof. By combining CT scans of the mummy's foot with 3D images of a contemporary duck-billed dinosaur footprint, the team could see exactly how the hoofed foot interacted with the ground. They determined that, unlike the forefeet, the hind feet had a fleshy heel pad behind the hooves.
This multi-faceted approach, which brought together paleontologists and digital artists, has given us the most accurate picture yet of a large dinosaur's appearance. “I believe it’s worth taking the time to assemble a dream team in order to generate science that can be appreciated by the general public,” Sereno said. Thanks to this research, we can now look at Edmontosaurus and see more than just bones—we can see the living, breathing animal, crest, spikes, hooves and all.
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