This famous ‘fossil’ is just a painted rock

Sorry to all the fans tridentinosaurus ancient, a remarkably preserved 280-million-year-old lizard believed to be extinct. New one Paper published in Paleontology It has been assumed that the early reptile fossil is actually a forgery.

The striking rock was found in the Italian Alps in 1931; Dark in the background, the soft tissue of all four limbs and the tail appear unscathed by the ravages of time.

“The unique protection of tridentinosaurus It had “puzzled experts for decades,” said paleontologist Evelyn Kustatscher of the Museum of Nature South Tyrol at University College Cork. release, “Now It All Makes Sense. What was described as carbonized skin is just paint.

Womp womp, as they say. It was long believed to be a fossil that could provide information about the evolution of early reptiles, but it turns out that what was thought to be preserved soft tissue was actually much more modern. UV imaging of the specimen indicated that it was coated with lacquer or varnish, but researchers expected the remains of the animal’s soft tissue to lie beneath. Unfortunately, there was just paint. The team believes that the painters of the fossil (whoever they were) did this to make the specimen look more impressive.

That’s right: the fossil isn’t a complete forgery. The researchers found that the animal’s hind limbs – the thighs – appeared to be valid, although not well preserved. And the team found that the animal’s back appeared to have osteoderms, the skin that forms scales on bone.

Valentina Rossi, palaeontologist and team leader at University College Cork, said: “Fossil soft tissues are rare, but when found in fossils they can reveal important biological information, for example, external colour, internal anatomy and Physiology.” release. “With all our questions answered, we had to study this fossil specimen in detail to uncover its secrets – even the ones we probably didn’t want to know.”

Of course, it took 93 years to get an answer to the nature of this suspiciously strong specimen. But the important thing is that truth prevailed.

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