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Nodosaur ‘Mummy’ Uncovered With Skin And Guts Intact In Canada

18 ft. long, built like a tank, the nodosaur’s mummified remains have returned from an oil sands mine in Canada. The creature is definitely the crown jewel of a newly opened prehistoric display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada.
Certainly, the nodosaur is astonishingly spectacular because of its massive size, but the most striking impression of the creature is it almost unparalleled preservation condition.

Source: Royal Tyrrell Museum

Bearing in mind that nodosaur existed nearly 110 million years ago, one must still be taken aback when looking at it. At first, it is because its skeleton is almost unseeable as the majority of the bones are hidden under its fossilized skin, described as “encased in intact body armour”.
In terms of biology, nodosaurs were herbivores walking on four legs, covered in tank-like armor dotted with spikes for protection. And this one is a new species and a new genus, claimed to be the oldest ever discovered in Alberta.

Source: Royal Tyrrell Museum

It is also the most exceptionally preserved fossil ever uncovered, speaking of armored dinos. It was initially unearthed in 2011 by an unsuspecting excavation worker during an oil sands mine dig.
Years later, after hours of meticulous restructuring process, estimated to be up to 7,000 hours, it is now prepared to be exposed to the public.

Source: Royal Tyrrell Museum

The mummy is around 2,500 lbs in weight, close to the 3,000-lbs fighting weight predicted by paleontologists. A flooded river may have swept it away and relocated it to the sea, where it ultimately drowned, according to experts.
From time to time, the dino’s armor and skin have been gradually replaced with minerals, helping to conserve it in the lifelike form as it is now exhibited.

Source: Royal Tyrrell Museum

A similarly horned species of dinosaur was recently identified at a Museum in Toronto. That cousin fossil, originally found in Montana, also contained soft tissue such as scales and parts of horn, but that dinosaur's remains are nowhere near as lifelike as the Alberta nodosaur.
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