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Sale 45
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Lot 1629
Rare Dinosaur Skin With Soft Tissue. Dinosaur skin is the rarest and most coveted of dinosaur fossils, being preserved under only extraordinary circumstances. For skin to be preserved, the dinosaur had to have been completely covered by fine mud sediments within a day or so of dying to avoid bacterial breakdown of the skin and soft tissue that would otherwise occur immediately. The skin texture was impressed in detail in the soft clay, forming a natural mold which was later filled by more muddy sand, creating a natural cast which remained intact for over 65 million years, even after the skin and other soft tissue was destroyed by bacteria. This large section of dinosaur skin and soft tissue from an Edmontosaurus duckbilled dinosaur is between 65 and 70 million years old and was found along with some fragmented bones of that species in Montana's Hell Creek Formation. The soft tissue could be muscle or glands, but it is impossible to say for certain as it is not known what section of the body the specimen came from.
This large section of matrix is 7 x 5 x 3.5 inches and has two large patches of positive skin impressions, with the largest light brown impression being 5 x 4 inches and the second, on the back side, 4.5 x 2.5 inches. The skin was wrapped around the sides of the limestone block and its impression has the usual hexagonal scaly appearance. This section came from a larger 3-D stone block and the soft tissue was not revealed until the stone was broken. There are two areas of soft tissue on this specimen. The first is a large 2 x 1.75 inch dark brown structure on the side, which lies about 0.75 inches below the skin layer above it. The second is a dark striated section, possibly muscle, 1.5 x 0.5 inches, just below the above skin layer. National Geographic's recent show "Dinosaur Autopsy" called their similar find of a more complete Edmontosaurus with soft tissue one of the most important discoveries of the decade and a specimen of dinosaur skin with soft tissue preservation may never be offered for sale again.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,500.
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