Scientists are calling it the best-preserved dinosaur specimen ever discovered. Found accidentally by surveyors near the upper Wilson Creek area on Pisgah National Forest, this fossilized theropod should be more than 77 million years old, yet the skin, bones and organs seem to be intact. According to the NC Natural History Museum in Raleigh, which recently unveiled the find, the dinosaur is so well-preserved that instead of a “fossil,” we could safely call it a “dinosaur mummy.”
The researchers examining the find were astounded at its nearly unprecedented level of preservation. The creature’s skin, teeth, and even some of its guts were intact — something they’d never seen before.
“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,” one researcher said.
Although how the dinosaur mummy could remain so intact for so long remains somewhat of a mystery, researchers suggest that the theropod may have been swept away by a flooded river and carried out to an ancient sea, where it eventually sank to the now exposed ocean floor.
Now believed to be identified as Appalachiosaurus, conservation experts are looking into coding its DNA. Dr. James Harvin states, “Knowing this animal once roamed this area, we will be putting all effort possible into restoring the species. We hope to reintroduce it into its ancient stomping grounds.”
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