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This fossilized skin was collected in June of 1998 on a privately owned ranch in Harding County, South Dakota. This locale is part of the Hell Creek Formation, which is famous as being the best paleontological record of the end of the dinosaurs. The specific site where the skin was found was higher up on the formation, closer to 65 Million Years and the K-T Boundary.
The skin was found in small (6" or less) sandstone blocks. Within these blocks, ossified tendon was plainly visible. Such tendons are often found in association with well preserved Hadrosaur sp. remains. On the living animal these tendons ran along the upper portion of the spinal column from the mid-thoracic vertebrae down to the mid-way point of the tail. The function of these tendons was most likely as a support system for the tail; in effect suspending it in the air.
The blocks of sandstone were, in fact, collected because of the presence of these tendons. The skin contained within these blocks was not discovered until the following summer. In the summer of 1999, Steve Nicklas Ph.D. discovered a 23 foot long articulated Hadrosaur sp. tail as well as an articulated lower leg. The location of this site was approximately 100 feet above where the tendons in sandstone had been found the previous summer. Upon examination, the tail was found to have a large amount of skin preserved on it. Based on this discovery, the sandstone blocks were carefully re-examined and found to have small patches of preserved skin as well. There can be little doubt that this skin came from the same animal and most likely also from the tail.
This fossil is NOT a skin impression but rather it is the animals actual skin that has been mineralized. Examples of fossilized dinosaur skin are extremely rare, as the circumstances by which such fossilization can occur are extraordinary. First as with any articulated discovery there must be little to no scavenging prior to burial. The animal needs to be essentially intact, as it looked when it died. Secondly, once it's buried, the environment must be either very arid or one that lacks enough oxygen to support decomposing organisms. Examples of such an environment would include a dessert, the floor of a swamp, or the bottom of a deep sea. 65 million years ago the Hell Creek Formation was a series of river deltas feeding into a shallow sea which split North America. With this environment in mind, the following is the prevailing theory of how this animal was preserved. Late Cretaceous South Dakota was experiencing a drought. Whether it was due to the drought or some other reason, the animal died. There, it's body lay undisturbed. Perhaps the animals hat would typically scavenge such a carcass had migrated to escape the drought. Regardless of why, this Hadrosaur sp. did indeed lay in a pristine state baking in the sun. As the animal dried, it lost volume and appeared to deflate. The skin was hardened and mummified and lay draped over bone and connective tissue. Then, suddenly the animal was buried. Whether the drought ended dramatically with a flash flood or the carcass was buried by some other means is unclear. What is certain is that the animal was buried rapidly and in a low oxygen environment resulting in very little decomposition. Over the next several million years not only was the bone fossilized, but so was the connective tissue and skin.
It was initially assumed that this animal was a complete Edmontosaurus. Later however, when the tail was completely excavated and examined it was discovered to have no less than 93 caudal vertebrae. This is 30 more caudal vertebrae than a typical Edmontosaurus, indicating that this may be an as of yet undescribed Hadrosaur sp.. Another curiosity is that the lower leg was found lying parallel to the tail. Although somewhat large by Edmontosaurus standards, it was by no means large enough to be proportional with the 23 foot long tail. It appears that this Hadrosaur sp. was approximately the size of an Edmontosaurus, but with an abnormally long tail.
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(Click on Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Hadrosaur sp.
Geologic Age: Cretaceous
Stratigraphic detail: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Harding County, South Dakota
Description: Nice 3-D details!Dinosaur Skin 31 Price $50.00
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(Click on Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Hadrosaur sp.
Geologic Age: Cretaceous
Stratigraphic detail: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Harding County, South Dakota
Description: Nice 3-D details!Dinosaur Skin 33 Price $50.00
 |
 |
(Click on Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Hadrosaur sp.
Geologic Age: Cretaceous
Stratigraphic detail: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Harding County, South Dakota
Description: Nice 3-D details!Dinosaur Skin 40 Price $75.00
 |
 |
(Click on Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Hadrosaur sp.
Geologic Age: Cretaceous
Stratigraphic detail: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Harding County, South Dakota
Description: Matrix measures 31/32" wide. Nice 3-D details!DinosaurSkin 6 Price $100.00