Published November 10, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay –template "mummification"

Authors/Creators

  • 1. EDMO icon University of Chicago
  • 2. ROR icon Field Museum of Natural History
  • 3. ROR icon Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
  • 4. Intellectual Ventures Managment, LLC
  • 5. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida

Description

 

Two “mummies” of the end-Cretaceous, duck -billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus annectens preserve a fleshy crest over the neck and trunk, an interdigitating spike row over the hips and tail, and hooves capping the toes of the hind feet. A battery of te sts shows that all the fossilized integument (skin, spike, hoof) are preserved as a thin (< 1mm) clay template that formed on the surface of a buried carcass during decay prior to loss of all soft tissues and organic compounds. Unlike the underlying permineralized skeletal bone, the integument renderings of these “dinosaur mummies” are preserved as a thin external clay mask, a templating process documented previously only in anoxic marine settings.

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Additional details

Funding

European Commission
EvoSaurAf - The evolution of long-necked dinosaurs of Africa before the Cenomanian-Turonian extinction 101068861