Description:

Dinosaur Skin With Leg Bone. Dinosaur skin is the rarest and most coveted of dinosaur fossils because of its extreme rarity, being preserved only under extraordinary conditions. The dinosaur had to have been completely covered by fine mud sediments probably in a large river delta within a day or so after dying to avoid bacterial breakdown of the skin and soft tissue which would occur immediately. This type of extreme condition may have occurred in a massive flood. The skin texture was impressed in detail in the soft clay forming a natural mold which was later filled by more muddy sand creating a natural cast and remained intact for over 65 million years even after the skin and other soft tissue was destroyed by bacteria. This pair of large 6 x 3 inch sections of both the positive and negative parts of rare dinosaur skin is from an Edmontosaurus duckbilled dinosaur and is between 65-70 million years old. It was found, along with a partial femur leg bone of a Edmontosaurus, in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. The skin shows the irregular shaped scales that formed their tough skin. What makes this piece unique is that the large 13X x 2 inch matrix containing the partial femur was split to reveal the skin impressions while still preserving the dark colored bone on the matrix as well as a large 9X6 inch section of dark brown bone from the femur head on the opposite side of the stone block from the lighter skin impression. This is a rare occurrence as a skin impression is rarely found connected to actual bone. Also, as a bonus, on the other side of the matrix is a tail vertebrae still embedded in the matrix. The slightly disarticulated 2.5 x 3.2 inch vertebrae has its 7 inch long vertical process just next to it. The vertical bone section would have connected the vertebrae to the large strong tail muscle. This lot contains both sections of bone and skin impressions. This is a rare heavy dinosaur bone assemblage for study and display.

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Estimated Value $1,250 - 1,550.

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