Intact fossils after 110 million years of armored dinosaurs

The intact fossil came to the scales of the armored dinosaurs that looked like they were sleeping, revealing a secret of camouflage.

Researchers officially named a genus and new armored dinosaur in the August 3 issue of Current Biology, based on a 110-million-year-old fossil found in Alberta, Canada, on display at the Paleontological Museum. Royal Tyrrell, according to Phys.org. Borealopelta markmitchelli dinosaur belongs to the family nodosaur , is a herbivorous dinosaur living in the Cretaceous period.

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

The team analyzed the exceptionally well preserved skeleton of a 5.5-meter-long fossil with complete armor from head to tail. They concluded that nodosaurs are prey of many predators, although they are about the size of a tank and weigh more than 1,300kg.

Scientists came to the conclusion based on the study of dinosaur skin. Borealopelta has a contrasting skin color (countershading) . This is a common form of camouflage , in which the skin on the animal's lower abdomen is lighter than the skin on the back. The nodosaur discovery indicates a lot of pressure from carnivorous dinosaurs.

"The massive hunting of dinosaurs shows how dangerous it is for carnivorous dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period , " said Caleb Brown, a scientist at the Tyrrell Museum.

This fossil was discovered by a miner by accident at Alberta's Suncor Millennium mine in 2011. For more than five years, Mark Mitchell museum technician spent more than 7,000 hours to clean the rock from the specimen slowly and Slowly. The dinosaur was named after Mitchell in recognition of his efforts.

Contrast skin color helps nodosaur to evade predators.(Photo: Tyrrell Museum Museum).

This fossil is the best preserved dinosaur armor ever and one of the most perfect dinosaur specimens in the world, according to the research team.

"This nodosaur is really noticeable with the skin of the entire scales covering the whole body in all three dimensions, helping to retain the original shape of the animal. As a result, it still looks the same as when it was alive. At the beginning of the Cretaceous period, you don't need to use a lot of imagination to build it in. If you just glance at it, it's easy to believe that it is just sleeping. "The longest and most beautiful dragon. It is the Mona Lisa of the dinosaur world , " Brown said.