The fossil is in its life-like shape without getting shredded despite the pressure and age.
On March 21, 2011, a group of Canadian paleontologists had discovered the most intact dinosaur fossil ever found, with the stomach content and the skin of the giant well preserved.
Now, according to the researchers, the fossil is believed to be that of an 110 million-year-old new species of Nodosauridae that weighs up to 1,270 KG.
The discovery of the new Nodosauridae or nodosaur species was made at Suncor Millennium Mine in Alberta, Canada, which is a major fossil digging site, abundant with marine reptiles. This was the first time that a land-wandering dinosaur has been discovered.
Paleontologists from the Royal Tyrrell Museum were brought in to dug out the fossil.
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“Finding the remains of an armored dinosaur that was washed far out to sea was huge surprise. The fact that it was so well preserved was an even bigger surprise,” said Donald Henderson, the museum’s Curator of Dinosaurs.
Mark Mitchell, the museum technician who spent close to five and a half years to diligently remove the rocks surrounding the fossil, has been honored by naming the new species after him Borealopelta markmitchelli.
According to the museum, Mitchell has spent close to 7,000 hours in the field to get the specimen in the current form.
The newly discovered fossil is 18 feet long with scaly armors intact. The fossil is in its life-like shape without getting shredded despite the pressure and age.
“This nodosaur is truly remarkable in that it is completely covered in preserved scaly skin, yet is also preserved in three dimensions, retaining the original shape of the animal,” said Caleb Brown, a scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
“The result is that the animal looks almost the same today as it did back in the Early Cretaceous. You don’t need to use much imagination to reconstruct it; if you just squint your eyes a bit, you could almost believe it was sleeping … It will go down in science history as one of the most beautiful and best-preserved dinosaur specimens – the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs,” he added.
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The unbelievably preserved fossil of the Nodosauridae species has given the scientists a chance to delve deep into the ecosystem that the animal lived. The scales that are all in pristine position with traces of organic compound has helped the scientists to confirm that the creature was reddish brown and “countershaded,” meaning it had a light-colored belly and darker back.
The researchers are also keen in knowing why an animal of this size, which was well equipped with defense armors, needed camouflage. They are of the belief that the bigger carnivorous dinosaurs of that age could have been feeding on Nodosauridaes as a result of which they might have developed camouflage as a defense technology.
“Strong predation on a massive, heavily-armored dinosaur illustrates just how dangerous the dinosaur predators of the Cretaceous must have been,” said Brown.
The world’s first well preserved dinosaur – Borealopelta markmitchelli is currently on display to the public at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta.