Author: Miss Cellania / Source: Neatorama
Burial at sea can result in amazing preservation, including remains of the ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that swam the seas 180 million years ago. Fossil remains of ichthyosaurs have been found over the last hundred years that included outlines in the rock.
Scientists didn’t know whether the outlines surrounding the bones were remnants of the animal’s original size, or were left by the microorganisms that consumed the carcass. What was between the outline and the bones? Did ichthyosaurs have a layer of blubber? Could there still be evidence of flesh or skin? Lund University paleontologist Johan Lindgren took an uncontaminated fossil and subjected it to a battery of modern chemical tests.First, Lindgren’s team analyzed the ichthyosaur’s skin, which the fossil preserved in…
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