{"id":3252,"date":"2025-10-24T01:23:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrarara.com.br\/en\/?page_id=3252"},"modified":"2025-10-24T01:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:23:48","slug":"mumias-de-dinossauros-incrivelmente-preservadas-revelam-os-primeiros-cascos-de-repteis-conhecidos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/terrarara.com.br\/en\/?page_id=3252","title":{"rendered":"Incredibly preserved dinosaur mummies reveal earliest known reptile hooves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
One of the Edmontosaurus mummies on display in the American Natural History Museum. (Claire H.\/CC BY SA 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
<\/p>

\r\n\tdoi.org\/10.1126\/science.adw3536<\/a>
Credibility<\/a>: 9<\/font>8<\/font>9<\/font>
#Dinosaurs<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>

\r\n\tAbout 66 million years ago, a group of herbivorous dinosaurs died during a drought, just hours or days before a major rainstorm arrived<\/strong><\/p>

We know this because these dinosaurs left behind some of the best-preserved dinosaur mummies ever found, with clay molds that retain details such as skin, spines, and even the first hooves ever seen on a reptile.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nThese mummies belong to the species Edmontosaurus annectens, herbivorous, duck-billed dinosaurs that roamed North America, like ancient buffalo.<\/p>

\r\nThey are well-known to scientists because they are common and often found in good preservation.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nResearchers from the University of Chicago led a study that closely examined several of these mummies found in a 10-kilometer region of Wyoming, USA, called the “mummy zone,” where preservation conditions are exceptionally good.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nSurprising New Discoveries<\/b>\r\n<\/p>

\r\nTwo newly discovered mummies have revealed features never before seen.<\/p>

\r\nThe first is a young animal, about two years old when it died.<\/p>

\r\nThis is the first large dinosaur found with its complete flesh profile, including a crest running along its neck and spine.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nThe second specimen is a young adult, between five and eight years old.<\/p>

\r\nIt still has a complete row of small spines along its back, from its hips to the tip of its tail.<\/p>

\r\nSome of these spines had been found before, but never so complete.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nThe most intriguing find, however, are the hooves on its hind legs.<\/p>

\r\nThis discovery is rare: not only is it the first time hooves have been found on a dinosaur, but also on any reptile.<\/p>

\r\nFurthermore, at between 66 and 69 million years old, these are some of the oldest hooves ever recorded on any animal.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nResearchers believe hooves may have emerged even earlier, in the Jurassic period, in armored dinosaurs like stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, which had robust feet and left footprints with rounded toes.\r\n<\/p>

<\/p>

\r\n

\"\"
B: Edmontosaurus track imprint. C\/D: Foot anatomy with hooves highlighted in blue. E: A life recreation of the species incorporating the new information, including the crest and spikes along the back (inset) and the hooved hind feet (F). (Sereno et al., Science 2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
<\/p>

How were these mummies formed?<\/b>\r\n<\/p>

\r\nTo understand how these mummies were preserved, scientists used optical scans, X-rays, CT scans, and electron microscopes.<\/p>

\r\nThey found that there is no longer any organic material, such as skin or organs, nor any traces of internal structures.<\/p>

\r\nInstead, all that remains is preserved as a thin layer of clay, less than 1 millimeter thick.<\/p>

\r\nThis clay formed when the material solidified over a layer of microbes that covered the bodies as they decomposed.\r\n<\/p>

<\/p>

\r\nThe Story Behind the Death<\/b>\r\n<\/p>

\r\nThese finds tell the story of these dinosaurs’ deaths in stunning detail.<\/p>

\r\nThe wrinkled skin, which was very close to the bones, shows that the bodies were exposed to the hot sun for hours or days after death.<\/p>

\r\nDrought has been confirmed as the cause of death for at least some of these dinosaurs.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nWhat happened next is tragically ironic: soon after death, the bodies were quickly buried by a large amount of sediment, with mud and broken tree trunks in the same layer.<\/p>

\r\n“These details show that the bodies were buried by a flood at or very close to the site of death, within a matter of hours or, at most, days,” the researchers explain.<\/p>

\r\nThey estimate that the time between death and burial of these mummies was about a week or a few weeks, within a single season.\r\n<\/p>

<\/p>

\r\nWhy is this important?<\/b>\r\n<\/p>

\r\nMost of what we know about dinosaurs comes from fossilized bones, but sometimes soft tissues, such as skin, feathers, scales, or even organs, survive.<\/p>

\r\nThese dinosaur mummies offer one of the clearest glimpses of these ancient animals, almost like time travel.<\/p>

<\/p>

\r\n

\r\n\r\n

Published in 10\/24\/2025 01h23<\/em><\/p>\r\n

\r\n

Portuguese version<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\t\t

Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.<\/p>\r\n\t\t

\r\n\t\t

Reference article:<\/p>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n