RE: Mummified Dinosaurs?

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

From: "Rafert, John" <JRAFERT@xray.indyrad.iupui.edu>
 > You are right. Obviously there are no real mummified Dinosaurs(at least to 
 > date) in the sense of the Egyptian mummies. There is a hadrosaur in New York 
 > that was fossilized in such a way as to preserve it's dried skin which has 
 > shrunk tightly around the bones. It looks pretty much like a mummy, but of 
 > course is a fossil.
 >
To clarify a little further, what happened with that specimen
(and several others), is that the dinosaur was naturally "mummified"
after death by a combination of drying and anoxia.  This shriveled
mummy was buried in fine sediment before it decayed.  As a result,
the silt made a very detailed cast of the skin before it disappeared.

There may also have been some preservation of the shape of internal
organs by a similar casting method.


So, in a sense, they *were* mummifed - it is just that all we
have left is a clay cast of the mummy.

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.