Dinosaur mummies, rare fossils preserving soft tissues alongside bones, offer unparalleled insights into the life appearance, physiology, and even coloration of extinct dinosaurs, going far beyond what skeletal remains alone can reveal.
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Well, hi there. Skeletons are amazing.
The fact that at times conditions are
just right to preserve bone for millions
of years allows us an incredible window
into the ancient past. And we can learn
a lot about an animal by simply
examining its skeletal structures. But
there are some questions that simply
cannot be answered by an examination of
the bones alone. Fortunately, from time
to time, an even more incredible form of
preservation occurs. A form which
preserves not only the skeletal
structures, but many of the soft tissues
as well, with some exceptional examples,
such as this amazing notaurid, often
being referred to as dinosaur mummies. I
mean, just look at this thing. It's
probably the most exceptional dinosaur
fossil that I've ever seen. This
dinosaur is called Boreal Pelta, a type
of Ankalloaurian found in Canada during
the Cretaceous. It was discovered in a
mine by some miners in 2011. And it has
given us the greatest look ever at the
life appearance of Ankyosaurs in
general. Honestly, one of the best looks
at the life appearance of any dinosaur
ever. But it is not the only dinosaur
mummy ever found. I just wish we had a
paleontologist who'd worked on dinosaur
mummies who could tell us more about
them. I just wish that were possible.
Oh, there's one. Ethan store. Ethan, I'm
so glad you're here. Uh, how long have
you been there?
>> Uh, pretty much the whole time.
>> Oh, good. [laughter]
>> Well, since you're here,
maybe introduce yourself a little bit. >> Okay.
>> Okay.
>> Hopefully, everybody knows you by now,
but maybe this is their first foray into
Dinosaur December. So, in case you
haven't met me yet in any of Clint's
videos, I am Ethan. I'm a
paleontologist. Um, I am currently a
working field paleontologist, meaning
most of my work is concentrated on stuff
like the excavation, preparation,
restoration, mounting, molding, and
casting of dinosaurs, as well as
contributing to research. Um, and I have
worked on a dinosaur mummy,
>> which probably not that many people have.
have.
>> Not I'd like to think not. Well, I've
got some handle on this subject, but I
would love to hear from you like exactly
what a dinosaur mummy is and how they're
formed. Okay, so a dinosaur mummy is
kind of a tough thing to define because
a lot of you viewers could and even you
could have your own definition of what a
dinosaur mummy.
>> It's not an official term.
>> No, it isn't. And when we say dinosaur
mummy, it's more of a term of
convenience and kind of excitement
rather than an official scientific term.
We're not talking about, you know, the
ones wrapped up in in the gauze and
whatever. No, this isn't like a
Hollywood mummy or even an Egyptian
mummy. The preservation process of an
Egyptian mummy and the dinosaur mummies
are so different. >> Mhm.
>> Mhm.
>> So, there are a few different types that
some one might consider a dinosaur
mummy. And uh starting at the beginning
there are skin impressions. Yes.
>> Which is basically uh we have the bones
um and the animal died. There is a patch
of really fine sediment that preserves a
patch of skin in very high fidelity. And
most people probably wouldn't call that
a dinosaur mummy just because it's such
a small surface area of the animal.
>> Just a little piece.
>> Yeah, just a little piece. Um
>> but it does give us some window.
>> It gives us a animals like T-Rex. It's
our only idea into the life appearance
of their integimement, which is the
fancy word for skin.
>> The T-Rex, for example, this model
represents our current understanding of
T-Rex skin, which is basically very
small, non-over overlapping pebbly
scales. In the Jurassic Park novel, they
describe the T-Rex's skin as similar to
the texture of the b of the bark of a
tree. And I think that's a probably a
pretty good read on what T-Rex's scales
would have looked like. you wouldn't
have really been able to see each
individual scale, but there would have
been kind of a rough texture, especially
with the wrinkles and stuff that would
have probably resembled the bark of a
tree, kind of like what you see on this
model here.
>> Yeah. And that that's actually why I've
picked this model because it's my
understanding that and I we've talked
before, you know, I think you think
there might be great variation in the
scales over different parts of the body,
but at least the portions that we have,
>> the scales are very small, the size of a
tic tac.
>> And this one, you know, this one's big
and robust
>> in a way that we now think T-Rex likely
was. and and kind I think all these
features probably one of the most
anatomically accurate including the skin
texture which is just it's exceptional.
>> Yeah, it is. It's it's an incredibly
hard thing to pull off on a like wide
produced model and Pso really knocked it
out of the park with this.
>> So with skin impressions, things like
T-Rex, it's our only idea of that.
Diplocus is another example. We mostly
only have skin impressions. Um and just
like you were saying, it can have lots
of variation in it. We can sometimes see
big fat kind of tortoise or crocodile
like scales. We can see osteoderms. We
can see feature scales like that on
carnotaurus which are really large
prominent scales that resemble
osteoderms but don't have a bone core in
them. Uh we can see pebbly scales like
that in T-Rex. We can sometimes see
feathers. We can see quills. We can see
the bizarre nipple-like scales that we
see in Triceratops or certain
aseratopsians have been found with
scales that almost resemble the pattern
of the Star of David. Like it's that we
we've seen uh gastroas, the scoot-like
scales on the belly of snakes. We found
that on Allosaurus and I even got to
work on that specimen. So, we see a very
wide variation of dinosaur scales. And I
think largely, even though this model is
fantastic and represents very well what
we know about T-Rex,
>> I think that a lot of paleo artists are overgeneralizing.
overgeneralizing. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> The integment across dinosaur bodies.
So, that's kind of our first step into
dinosaur mummies.
>> So, that that'd be the least the least
mummy like of all the things you might
consider a mummy. That's just dipping
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>> Then from there um you will get things
like the most recent finds that out of
the Sereno lab which is two
Edmontosaurus. Now these are
>> this has been big news lately.
>> Yes, it has. And it for whatever reason
Edmontosaurus seems to be the dinosaur
that this happens to the most frequently
and they're all from kind of one
[snorts] cube of land. Like they're all
found within the same area. And
>> for those that don't know, tell us a
little bit more about Edmonton. I know
it's your favorite dinosaur.
>> Oh man. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, it is one
of the largest duck build dinosaurs to
have ever lived. So, a hydrosaur.
And it was, uh, it was contemporary with
animals like Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Triceratops, Torosaurus, and Kylosaurus,
Akiaptor, Dakota, a bunch of at least
moderately famous dinosaurs and the most
famous dinosaurs. Yes. Everything cooler
than it ate it or lived with it. And um
>> so mo many of the coolest dinosaurs to
ever exist were largely made out of the buntosaurus.
buntosaurus.
>> Uh in a way, yes, that is fair to say
because at the very least it was
donating its body back to the ground at
the end which then Triceratops named
Kyosaurus ate or T-Rex ate directly. So
Admonaurus was a very large duck build
dinosaur. I slam on it but honestly I if
I saw one alive I dropped my knees and
weep like it's
>> I I I get you know I I I have a very
similar feeling about the hydrasaurs.
>> Yeah. I I would say the toothless,
therapods, and the hydrosasaurus are in
strong competition for the least cool of
the Cretaceous dinosaurs,
>> which is already Cretaceous dinosaurs.
>> Yeah, that's a high bar. So, they're
still among the coolest animals,
especially herbivores that have ever
lived, but they're they're lame for
Cretaceous Dinosaurs.
>> So, and Admonosaurus got quite large. It
was only outclassed by its Mongolian
cousin, Shenunosaurus.
>> Oh, so it's the second largest.
>> The second largest. [clears throat]
>> Shentunosaurus is enormous.
>> Yes, it could get in lengths of nearly
40 ft. So, similar size range as
something like T-Rex. And it's a little
bit more plain than what we see in other
especially uh lambiosaurineaurs.
So, that those are going to
>> which are not lame. That is that's where
I draw.
>> Very cool. They are very cool. And those
are going to be animals like
parasaurolophus, lambiosaurus,
coriththosaurus, etc.
>> And all the actual headrests.
>> Yes. And that's where you're going to
get most of the bony head crest. Now in
the soroofines like at Monttoaurus, you
do get some like sorophus itself, which
has a kind of straight rod coming off
the back of its head. But you also get a
lot of the crestless ones, and that's
going to include animals like
Edmontosaurus and like Brochiosaurus.
However, they might have still had some
form of crest, and we know that thanks
to dinosaur mummies. We have found
several now, Edmontosaurus mummies. And
what these are are a very unique
preservation style, and it's still not
quite the actual skin fossilizing.
>> What happens, and this is off of this
most recent research, even after finding
several other Admonasaurus mummies
before, we were pretty confused about
how this process happened. And this last
bit of research out of the Sereno Labs
seems to have cracked it, which is
basically one the there needed to be
some form of scavenging, which you'd
think would be in like inhibiting the
fossilization process because they're
eating it. However, uh the gas that is
starting to inflate in the body needs to
escape somehow.
>> And odds are that was frequently done by
small scavengers basically opening up
the animal and that gas escaping. So
that's one that allows the skin to then
desiccate onto the onto the bones. Now
>> and that's where it gets the mummy like appearance.
appearance.
>> Yes. The kind of gaunt like shrink
wrapped look of it. Now so again we do
have to think these are giving our best
look at what these animals look like
when they were alive. However, they are
not one to one that we are still missing
a lot of the fat muscle things like that
that would kind of fill the animal out.
Now, I think sometimes we go a little
overboard in terms of that, but I think
the latest Sereno illustration of
Admonsurus is a great example of that
balance between not shrink wrapped, but
not a little bit overbloated as well.
>> And from there, the animal has to be
buried very quickly in a low oxygen environment.
environment.
>> And so, the ideal situation is like a
flash flood basically buries it in
sediment in fine grain sediment. It also
has to be very fine grain sediment
>> uh so all your aerobic decomposers won't
continue to break down soft tissues
especially. However, one important uh
biologic matter has to occur there where
basically this biofilm
of a small bacteria starts to collect on
the skin of the animal. And this biofilm
was an attractant for clay particles
which then composited over the actual
dinosaur. And this clay was so fine
grained that it captures the dinosaur
skin in perfect fidelity and forms a
sort of mold around the dinosaur which
is then later infilled by harder
sediment and it forms basically a cast
of the dinosaur's life appearance
surrounding the bone itself. So that
gives the appearance of a dinosaur
mummy. You need something to open it up
so that the gas can escape. then it
needs to be buried
>> quickly in in highly anorobic conditions.
conditions.
>> But a bofilm can still form over the top
of it for reasons I don't yet
understand. It's really attractive to
clay particles. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
>> That form essentially like a clay mold
around it. >> Uh-huh.
>> Uh-huh.
>> That that and that would just be clay.
But then does that clay become
permineralized or how does
>> So the clay is going sometimes you can
still find it and sometimes even that is
what we find. Other times it's infilled
by other stuff.
>> Okay. So, so once the tissue actually
breaks down, yes, you get some sediments
filling in.
>> I mentioned that that the soft tissue is
being broken is still being broken down
over time by that biologic,
>> but you've got the you've got the clay
mold holding the basic shape and then so
now you've got a space. >> Yep.
>> Yep.
>> Where that is broken down and that fills in
in
>> with sediment.
>> And so now I've got rock
>> that is taking on the appearance
>> the exact appearance of the the soft
tissues that were in the cast.
>> Yes. And this can even happen to
internal organs as seen by the other
Edmontosaurus, dinosaur mummy Dakota, or
uh the dino mummy Leonardo, which is a
bronchilyosaurus, which is an animal
that looks very similar to Edmontosaurus.
Edmontosaurus.
>> Okay. So, so we've got just skin impressions.
impressions.
>> Then we've got this form, which is
probably your most like
well accepted as being a dinosaur mummy.
Like if there was one thing that's
dinosaur mummy, it's this. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> But that's not the only form, is it? And
then lastly, you have animals like you
were talking about earlier, Boreal
Pelta, which one is already an
incredibly armored dinosaur. So, a lot
of its body is less likely to break down
in uh in tough conditions. But this one
was a bloat and float where basically it
did fill up with gas, floated out to
sea, and then eventually sank and then
was deposited very quickly in a very low
oxygen environment. And that led to
immaculate preservation of even some
soft tissue. It basically flash froze
the animal. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> And
>> And
>> in the ocean, correct? Washed down a
river. They thought it was I think a
plesiosaur or some other marine
>> because it was a marine deposit.
>> Yes. And then very interesting. Okay.
And so so that is mostly that it is it
is being preserved and and it's largely
the bones and they're being preserved in
place. They're not getting scattered around.
around.
>> But there's more to it than just that, right?
right?
>> Yeah. I mean, it does have some soft
tissue still like desiccated onto it.
And again,
>> like this is the this is rock. Yes, it
is. It is not uh like like you can grab
its cheek and pop it out. But it is
basically, like I said, almost flash
frozen in that state. And so you can
actually still see its eyelids and
everything. It's an incredible find.
>> So cool.
>> And so that's another specimen that you
would probably consider a dinosaur mummy
even though most of it is made up by the
bones of the animal. Yeah. But
ankyosaurs are so armored that the even
the bones of the animal kind of take on
the appearance the life appearance. Right.
Right.
>> Like that.
>> I'm pretty happy. They think it was
preserved upside down. Right.
>> Incredible. Incredible.
>> And another kind of dinosaur mummy is
going to be uh the kind of plate fossils
that are especially common in China. Now
again, this is one that you may or may
not consider a dinosaur mummy, but these
are animals that are similar to the
fossils of Microaptor or Satacosaurus
where they're basically flattened into a
plate and that were left with the soft
tissue that then degraded into the
sediment and that left an outline and
kind of this halo of the animal.
Archopterics is another example. I think
Satacosaurus is our best because it left
a soft tissue outline of how the animals
musculature looked when it was alive. It
preserved the animals cloa.
>> It press
on the animals um and even the pigment.
And so those are all great examples of
um ones that you might consider a
dinosaur mummy even though it's almost
like a halo left behind that shows us
the silhouette of the animal and even
more information like color. Mhm.
>> And so, um, that that's another type of
dino mummy.
>> That's excellent. So, now that we know
kind of how dinosaur mummies form, what
can we learn from dinosaur mummies that
we can't learn from just an examination
of the bones?
>> I mean, obvious the the clear answer is
going to be more about their life
appearance, how they looked when they
were walking around, right? Um, but even
things like color and how their internal
organs worked are all at times preserved
in dinosaur mummies. And so a lot about
how the animal looked, lived, and
behaved can be learned from dinosaur
mummies, which already the bones can
tell us so much more than people tend to
assume. But mummies take that a step further.
further.
>> I know there are some dinosaurs where we
have like a whole lot of them. >> Mhm.
>> Mhm.
>> And we know exactly what color they
were. you were you were saying sometimes that
that
>> um like how does that happen? So it's
basically that they're so well preserved
that we can actually look at the
melanosomes preserved in the animal. And
so and the melanosomes are a part of the
cell that basically it doesn't just
control melanin but it also impacts how
light is reflected back out
>> of the cell. And so and that is I
because I like to tell people you are
all all the colors besides the color you
appear to be. This shirt is every color
except blue because it is the light that
is being reflected back out. And so by
studying the shape of the melanosomes
that are preserved in fossils that are
at this level of fidelity or detail
under an electron microscope, we can
actually see the melanosomes left behind
and say, "Oh, so uh I think it's the
kind of hot dog shaped ones that pump
out like kind of coppery reds and stuff
like that." And so using that we've been
able to determine dinosaur colors at
least in some specimens. Borealapelta
would have been kind of orange, yellow,
and red banded
>> and you can find illustrations of that.
It's really cool.
>> So cool.
>> So obviously dinosaur mummies give us a
window into dinosaurs that we don't
normally get. How common are they?
>> Not very. Um if we're talking skin
impressions, again, we're going to have
be a little more common. Borealopelta is
pretty close to one of a kind. And the
admontosaurus, while it does appear we
have several, are all kind of from one
cube. Like I mentioned earlier, they're
all within they're all in kind of the
same, not exactly the same quarry, but
the same larger size
>> area where conditions were just right.
>> Exactly. Exactly. Um I will say it does
appear to happen to hydrosaurs more
frequently than other animals because
our other examples of dinosaur mummies
not from that site are Brochyosaurus and
Corithosaurus. Ironically, you can see
most of these specimens or at least like
half of them at the American Museum of
Natural History. You can see the
Carithosaurus mummy and Dakota both
there. So, odds are
>> just due to prevalence.
>> I would imagine it's due to prevalence.
So, how many hydrosasaurs were roaming
the ecosystem? Partially, their size.
They're more likely to be fossilized
because they're large.
>> And lastly, it was what the environments
they were seeking out. So either they
were eating the plants that were growing
in these kind of marshy swampy areas
that were allowing this fossilization,
this preservation more than something
like a triceratops was
>> or there was some other factor that was
pushing them to mostly congregate in
these environments. So it's more likely
that they fossilize in the conditions
that allow a dinosaur mummy. But the
answer is in general they're not they're
not common at all. Fossils are already a
one in a billion type find. And a
dinosaur mummy is a is a
>> it's not just a needle in a hay stack.
It's a specific needle in stack of
needles. Like it is it is border. It is
a very very very rare find. And we're
lucky to even have the ones we do.
That's why they always make news when
you find them. We've mentioned a few.
I've talked about the life appearance of
Satacosaurus from China. Um, we know the
colors of animals like microaptor and
uh, archaopterics because of these those
um, dino mummies that are kind of
flattened into plates. We know the
colors of animals like Boreala like I
talked about because of its
preservation. I mean, we we've even
talked about uh some of Sereno's
dinosaur mummies, and we learned from
those that they had kind of those sails
on their backs that they had these
bizarre overlapping spikes that were I
say spikes, but they're almost more like
cornified humps that actually alternate.
Like they overlap each other and they
alternate angles to compensate for space
for each other. We learned Edmontosaurus
had a little hat basically, which is a
little fleshy hat.
>> Yeah. a little fleshy beanie almost on
top of its head. So, it didn't have a
hard bony crest like Parasaurolophus or
Lambiosaurus, but it had a little fleshy
crest kind of like what you see on a chicken.
chicken. >> Mhm.
>> Mhm.
>> And we wouldn't know any of that if it
weren't for this. Not to mention, it can
tell us a lot about even how the animal
lived. For example, we've suspected for
a very long time that dinosaurs were
warm to hotblooded. An admontosaurus was
found one of the mummies with a
four-chambered heart. That is basically
unheard of in hard coldblooded animals.
So, am I correct on that?
>> Well, I think crocodilians,
>> but if I understand correctly, crocodilians
crocodilians >> secondarily
>> secondarily
>> are secondarily. Exactly.
>> And and then and then all of our extant
dinosaurs have a four-chambered heart.
So, everything we know about the rest of
the cate suggests that they should have
had a four-chambered heart, but that
doesn't mean that they do. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
ancestrally at least.
>> All animals with four-chambered hearts
were warm or hoted.
>> And so that just nail in the coffin.
Everything about their physiology and
what we know about their behavior
already was showing us that they
appeared to be very active and
warm-blooded animals. And then a
four-chambered heart puts that in. That
also taught us a lot about how dinosaurs
digested food and all those things
because so many internal organs were
preserved. So, it can teach us.
Edmontosaurus had an horrible ugly giant
thumb for a hoof
>> on its hand. Um, which we thought it had
kind of individual little fingers that
ended in cute little claws. Turns out it
had this horrible giant toenail that
kind of made a pseudo hoof on its foot.
We know that from these
>> and that's the first we've ever seen of
a hoof in a dinosaur. Is that correct?
>> Yes. And now we have found that a couple
times. And so point is we can learn a
lot about how dinosaurs lived and
behaved and everything. And these are
all examples of that.
>> The these we've learned a lot so much of
how we understand
these clades of dinosaurs, but even more
so how we understand dinosaurs in
general has been impacted by dino
mummies. Feathers were really confirmed
by dinosaur mummies like the Chinese ones.
ones.
>> That is so cool. Ethan, I've got one
more really big question for you. >> Okay.
>> Okay.
>> Um, but before that,
>> I think a lot of people have have seen
you a lot on this channel. If they want
to follow you more directly,
>> where would they find you?
>> So, you are welcome to follow my TikTok.
I've been on a little bit of a hiatus uh
towards the end of this year. Um, just
kind of life got in the way, but uh I
plan on getting on back on a regular
schedule. And so if you want to follow
my Tik Tok where I'm doing kind of long
form educational content, um not quite
as long as this, but typically anywhere
between kind of 3 to 10 minute videos on
just different dinosaurs topics,
fossils, uh evolutionary processes, very
similar to what you do here, but just
more paleospecific. You can follow me on
Tik Tok at T period Rexellence. So rex
len ce. So t- rexalence at Tik Tok. And
if you want uh what will probably be the
greatest dinosaur education, at least
I've ever seen, Ethan will be teaching a
full course here at Clint's Life Science
Academy. So, if you're in the the
greater area of Springville, Utah, and
you can get down here for once a week
for 10 weeks, Ethan's going to teach a
class. I've I've he's he's taught our
herpatology class one day on dinosaurs.
It was the most I've ever learned from a
single lecture in my entire life. And so
there may still be some spaces left
over. We'll have a link to all that. And
actually, uh, at least this cool T-Rex
down in the description as well. As many
of you know, every week we have an extra
video for our stinking red fans at
Patreon called Patreon Extras.
>> Whenever Ethan's here,
>> there's some of the best Patreon extras
videos we ever have. So, if you're
interested in seeing that or just
supporting this channel, please consider
checking it out. All right, one more big
question. Um,
>> and this one has to do
>> it's actually something that though it's
my understanding, it's not quite what
they describe it to be.
>> And that is the soft tissue fossils that
we have found that are actually like
stretchy pliable
>> fossils. So you're talking about
medularary tissue. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
>> Which has been found a few times in
dinosaurs. They're usually inside the
hips and uh hind limb elements,
specifically the femur and tibia. And
basically what that is is it's almost
you could consider it almost a pregnancy
test for or at least an ovulation test
for um birds. Basically, birds still
have this today. It's a special kind of
tissue that um occurs within the hips
and uh thigh of the animal as it's
getting ready to lay eggs. And basically
what that tissue does is it sponges away
the surrounding calcium in those very
heavy thick bones that are full of
calcium to feed eggshell growth.
>> Okay. Interesting.
>> And so um and in something like a T-Rex
basically the femur is so thick and so
dense that fossilization has not fully
permeated it. And because that is that
tissue was sponging away that uh that
calcium in the core of the bone, it's
still present. And so that is act are
that's another really cool example of
soft tissue that is found in dinosaurs.
We found it in two different T-Rexes.
And not only is that cool because it's
dinosaur soft tissue, but that means
those two
>> T-Rexes are confirmed females.
>> Yes. So it we don't know if they were
necessarily pregnant when they died or
if they were just or if they were
gravid, but they but they had to have
been females.
>> And that's really interesting because
there's a lot of there's kind of two
basic morpho types of T-Rexes that you
find. And the question is,
>> is that because that you've got sexual
dimmorphism or is it something else? And
if you've got guaranteed females, that
gives you a place to start.
>> Yeah. And I have a feeling no matter
what that how we've grouped those morphs
is probably incorrect. I think there um
is I I and it's kind of already been
shown um through uh Dr. Carr and uh Dr.
Napoli's research um following up the
splitting T-Rex into three species that
there is a lot more individual variation
in T-Rex than most people categorize.
But I would be really interested to kind
of see if there were certain anatomical
traits within those confirmed females
that we could then look at that might
compare to others that might clue us
into sexual dimmorphism and any sort of
anatomical traits that would follow.
>> So just to go back to this preservation
method as I researched it, it seems like
iron is also somehow very important.
>> I'm So I'm actually unfamiliar with
that. I I uh all I've heard um I'm sure
I'm going to have to become a lot more
familiar with this, especially with my
upcoming research,
>> but um all all I've heard is that it had
a lot to do with the thickness of the
bone and the degree of preservation. So
essentially, I wouldn't be surprised if
iron had something to do with it, but
essentially what you're saying is this
bone is so big and thick and and so you
know, any sort of decomposers to get in there.
there.
>> Yeah. And you know and then as it's permineralized
permineralized
permineralization is happening to the
bone as it gets that deep. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Now other tissues like I mean would you
have this occur with bone marrow or
anything like that at any time?
>> Typically no. Um I actually entirely no.
We've never seen bone marrow in in like
preserved in fossil specimens.
Medularary tissue seems to be preserved
still because it's actually still the
internal bone structure itself.
>> Mh. And it's almost more of a chemical
reaction that's absorbing that's
reabsorbing the calcium to disperse into
the eggshells.
>> And it's not soft on its own. Correct.
>> No, you have to add I I can't remember
the name of the chemical, but you it
does require some sort of chemical mixture
mixture
>> that allows it to become super pliable.
And you can find videos.
>> It scrapes the permineralized >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> portions away by doing and you can see
find videos of it under the microscope.
And seriously, it's like a rubber band.
Yeah, it's it's super cool.
>> That's interesting. But you you don't
personally see that as evidence that the
fossils are not nearly as old as we think.
think.
>> No, not at all.
>> It I mean if trying I'm just trying to
wrap my head around it, but I that's
this is some really interesting insight
and I appreciate you tackling that sort of
of >> course.
>> course.
>> Uh unrelated. Well, I mean that's still
a maybe a type of mummy. At least it's a
type of soft tissue. You could. Yeah,
you I mean if you're we're calling skin
impressions mummies, I think you could
call me tissue dino mummies as well.
>> Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for
being here. I appreciate all of you guys
learning about some dinosaur mummies. If
you've missed any of our videos from
this dinosaur December or any of our
dinosaur videos in the past, we've got a
whole playlist right there. As always,
like and subscribe. We hope to see you
real soon. I have told people if I ever
if like I got to choose how I died, it
would be Eddie Carr in the Lost World.
That would be you'd be the coolest
ghost. Like that's when that's the dude
who gets ripped in half by the two
parent T-Rexes.
>> That would be the best part of
>> it'd be incredibly painful for about 4
seconds and then you'd just be the
coolest ghost.
>> Yep. [laughter]
>> Yep. No, that's true.
>> Like you'd have the best bragging
rights. And so realistically,
>> even other people who have kind of cool
deaths, it would be like motorcycle accident.
accident.
>> Two T-Rexes.
>> Even the guy who got eaten by a T-Rex,
you could be like,
>> "One two of them."
>> Just one.
>> Yeah. Just one.
>> You let one T-Rex.
>> I got Lady in the Tramped by two T-Rex. [laughter]
[laughter]
>> They played the music in
>> everything. It was actually quite
romantic if you weren't in my situation.
>> Can you imagine if the RV had been
playing that song at the time? That
[laughter] would have been such a
twisted moment. We had a whole lot of
What was that?
>> Probably something over in the music store.
store.
>> I'm pretty sure that was a T-Rex. I've
seen Jurassic Park. Where's the cup of
water? Like imagine, you know, humans go
extinct. Next species takes charge 100
million years later, finds our fossils,
and says, "Why did humans have such
dextrous, powerful forearms? Was it to
make food? Was it to communicate? Was it
to build tools?" We use our hands for
all of those things.
>> I think it's mostly to clean the
>> heiney. That too. [laughter]
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