Dakota (fossil)

Dakota (specimen NDGS 2000) is an exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur fossil assigned to Edmontosaurus. A dinosaur mummy, the specimen preserves soft tissues including extensive patches of skin, spikes along the midline of the tail, and the hooves of the forefeet. Biomarkers were detected in the skin, suggesting that breakdown products of organic molecules are also preserved. Both the bones and the skin show signs of scavenging by at least two larger carnivores. The carcass would have lain on the surface for weeks or months, drying out, before being buried in river sands. The specimen was discovered in 1999 in rocks of the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota, US, and is about 66 million years old, from the very end of the Late Cretaceous period.

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