Mineralized soft-tissue structure and chemistry in a mummified hadrosaur from the Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota (USA).
An extremely well-preserved dinosaur (Cf. Edmontosaurus sp.) found in the Hell Creek Formation (Upper Cretaceous, North Dakota) retains soft-tissue replacement structures and associated organic compounds. Mineral cements precipitated in the skin apparently follow original cell boundaries, partially preserving epidermis microstructure. Infrared and electron microprobe images of ossified tendon clearly show preserved mineral zonation, with silica and trapped carbon dioxide forming thin linings on Haversian canals within apatite. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of materials recovered from the skin and terminal ungual phalanx suggests the presence of compounds containing amide groups. Amino acid composition analyses of the mineralized skin envelope clearly differ from the surrounding matrix; however, intact proteins could not be obtained using protein mass spectrometry. The presence of endogenously derived organics from the skin was further demonstrated by pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GCMS), indicating survival and presence of macromolecules that were in part aliphatic (see the electronic supplementary material).
Manning
Phillip L
PL
School of Earth, Atmospheric, and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Morris
Peter M
PM
McMahon
Adam
A
Jones
Emrys
E
Gize
Andy
A
Macquaker
Joe H S
JH
Wolff
George
G
Thompson
Anu
A
Marshall
Jim
J
Taylor
Kevin G
KG
Lyson
Tyler
T
Gaskell
Simon
S
Reamtong
Onrapak
O
Sellers
William I
WI
van Dongen
Bart E
BE
Buckley
Mike
M
Wogelius
Roy A
RA
D000818:Animals; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005580:Fossils; D009658:North Dakota; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013710:Tendons / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction