Young hadrosaur fossil discovery with skin attached in Canada
Alberta in Canada is home to the Dinosaur Provincial Park. Paleontologists and other scientists usually go there looking for new fossils that haven’t been discovered yet. While biologist Teri Kaskie was looking for a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth, she came across a young hadrosaur’s remains that still had skin attached.
Paleontologists and museums are excited and highly interested in the find. Apparently, it’s extremely rare to see skin attached to fossils. That’s why this discovery has most of the world’s attention. Let’s see all the details in this news article below.
Image source: Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Hadrosaur with skin discovered in Canada
The Hadrosaur family were ornithischian dinosaurs that had a unique quality that set them apart from others: they had duck-billed mouths. While Teri Katie was hunting around for T-Rex teeth, her eyes caught something sticking out of a nearby rock. What’s more, it still had skin attached!
Spotting the young hadrosaur’s remains
In 2021, Brian Pickles from the University of Reading led a school team on a scouting trip in the Dinosaur Provincial Park located in Alberta. Biologist Teri Kaskie was busy looking for T-Rex teeth when her eyes caught fossil remains within a hillside nearby. While that was exciting enough, she was even more elated when she realized it still had skin attached.
Both the University of New England in Australia and the University of Reading are actively working on the steady excavation of these remains, making sure to keep the skin intact as much as possible. Image source
Dinosaur enthusiast and biologist, Teri Kaskie
Kaskie is one of the volunteers that assist Dr. Pickles at the Dinosaur Provincial Park. While he’s a professor at the University of Reading in England, he often takes students on scouting trips from Australia, too. In this case, they headed to Canada for one of the latest trips.
“I instantly went up to Brian and, like, you need to come to take a look at this! And as it turned out, it was something really cool,” Teri Kaskie remarked about finding the remains. Pickles immediately knew it was an outstanding discovery, leading him to contact the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta.
Fossils with skin are rare finds
Finding dinosaur remains in the Dinosaur Provincial Park isn’t a new thing. Many paleontologists are making new discoveries every year, as there are still so many fossils located there. What makes this find unique is the skin on the bones.
According to scientists, the skin will allow the researchers to learn more about the hadrosaurs’ during the Cretaceous period, more than bones can do. It will also help them understand more about the various life stages of these dinosaurs. The trouble is that skin on fossils is incredibly rare to find.
What an exciting discovery!
It’s quite incredible to find a hadrosaur’s skin at this stage of the game. I would love to head to that dinosaur park to see what else can be found. While about 500 dinosaur remains have already been discovered, I’m sure that valley has still a lot more potential.
Who knows, we might locate some organs still encased in the hills. Until then, we’ll enjoy the news about the hadrosaur skin.
News source CBC