How did the fossil dragon sleep for 112 million years?

The fossil-covered dinosaur fossil 5.5 meters resembles a dragon drunk during 112 million years under the impact of geological environment and body composition.

Although it is impossible to conclude exactly how the 112 million-year-old dinosaur died, researchers are investigating the process of turning ancient monsters into intact 3D fossils as if a statue of a sleeping dragon, according to Fox News.

The combination of the protective shell (armor with hard bone) and special circumstances not only helps the animal escape the sight of scavengers but also contributes to its unique fossil, the chief Donald Henderson research team, managing dinosaur galleries at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta, Canada. Analysis results were announced on August 25 at the annual meeting of the Vertebrate Paleontology Society.

"This is the world's best preserved armored dinosaur," Live Science quoted Henderson. "The quality of preservation and intact shape turns the specimen into a Rosetta Stone stone to decode armored dinosaurs."

Nodosaur fossil at the museum.(Video: National Geographic).

The prickly nodosaur dinosaur, the ankylosaur 's armored cousin, was discovered at the Suncor Millennium Mine in Alberta in 2011. The team was amazed to see that the fossil was not crushed under pressure. of soil and sediment after millions of years. Several factors simultaneously acted as a result of the rare 3D fossil formation of the newly identified B. markmitchelli dinosaur, according to Henderson.

Researchers are not sure how the 5.5-meter-long dinosaur died, but soon after death, B. markmitchelli was swept down to the ancient inland sea stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. Dinosaurs drift away from the reach of any predator, from carnivorous dinosaurs to aquatic scavengers like freshwater crocodiles.

The rotting body causes the dead body of the dinosaurs to fill with air, bulge and float farther and farther along the sea, avoiding the destruction of near-shore waves and some dead-eating species such as crabs and worms.

Most bulky dead carcasses will explode after death a few days, but the thick armor of B. markmitchelli is resistant to high pressure from compressed air released from the decaying internal organs of animals. This certainly slows down the final breakage of the body wall.

'Thick thorny skin prevents marine predators like sharks and long-necked plesiosaurs. The animal's body sinks into deep water, where there are not many life forms because the environment is too cold and dark, not suitable for scavengers , "Henderson said.

The 1,360kg nodosaur, which landed on the seabed in a supine position with a strong impact force, created an impact crater. The corpse of the animal was buried under the mud of the sea door."This mud covers outside the armor and scales, prevents oxygen outside, so the remaining body of the dinosaurs is less degraded. Less decomposition status helps preserve scales and crust armor and even colored beads in dinosaur skin , "Anderson said.

Dinosaur corpse nodosaur illustration washed away to the sea.(Photo: National Geographic).

While rotting corpses, various compounds such as putrescine (sour-smelling organic matter formed when amino acids are broken) alter the chemical composition of the seabed, accelerating the rapid decomposition of minerals. around the corpse, creating a particularly thick protective coffin.

"The firmness of the sarcophagus prevents the specimen from being crushed by a kilometer of rocky soil above for nearly 112 million years," Henderson said.

Henderson and his colleagues analyzed the details by observing the geological characteristics of the site. They also examined the coffin-like structure along with sediments inside and outside the dinosaur's body.

Based on the rock mineralogical study surrounding the dinosaur nodosaur, they can confirm that the specimen is located in the deep sea at least 50m.

1. Intact fossils after 110 million years of armored dinosaurs