What Color Were Dinosaurs? Test Of Ancient Skin Sample May Reveal Answer [View all]

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A dinosaur skin sample from a 70-million-year-old hadrosaur is being tested at the Canadian Light Source. This is one of only a few skin samples ever found (Photo : Canadian Light Source synchrotron)


Our books and films have long depicted dinosaurs to be some shade of green or brown- and for all we know, that might be accurate. But by testing one of the world's only well-preserved dinosaur skin samples at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron, researchers hope to determine a more definitive answer on dinosaur skin color as well as explain how a 70-million-year-old hunk of skin has been so well preserved.

The sample of hadrosaur skin was found close to a riverbed near Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada in 2012. The hardosaur was a duck-billed dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (100-65 million years ago).


"As we excavated the fossil, I thought that we were looking at a skin impression. Then I noticed a piece came off and I realized this is not ordinary - this is real skin. Everyone involved with the excavation was incredibly excited and we started discussing research projects right away," said University of Regina physicist Mauricio Barbi in a statement from CLS.

Barbi said this is only the third three-dimensional dinosaur skin specimen ever found worldwide.

"This fossil is fascinating because it can tell us so much about the life and the appearance of the dinosaurs in the area."

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http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1649/20130429/what-color-dinosaurs-test-ancient-skin-sample-will-reveal-final.htm