两具白垩纪末期的“木乃伊”——鸭嘴龙埃德蒙顿龙——颈上和躯干上保留了一个肉质的嵴，臀部和尾巴上有一排交错的尖刺，后脚的脚趾上有蹄。一系列的测试表明，所有的化石被保存为一个薄的（1毫米）粘土模板，在所有软组织和有机化合物丢失之前，尸体在腐烂过程中形成。与底层的过矿化骨骼不同，这些“恐龙木乃伊”的外壳被保存为薄的外部粘土面具，这是一种模板化过程，以前只在缺氧的海洋环境中记录过。
附：英文原文
Title: Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template “mummification”
Author: Paul C. Sereno, Evan T. Saitta, Daniel Vidal, Nathan Myhrvold, María Ciudad Real, Stephanie L. Baumgart, Lauren L. Bop, Tyler M. Keillor, Marcus Eriksen, Kraig Derstler
Issue&Volume: 2025-12-18
Abstract: Two “mummies” of the end-Cretaceous, duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus annectens preserve a fleshy crest over the neck and trunk, an interdigitating spike row over the hips and tail, and hooves capping the toes of the hind feet. A battery of tests shows that all the fossilized integument (skin, spike, hoof) are preserved as a thin (< 1mm) clay template that formed on the surface of a buried carcass during decay prior to loss of all soft tissues and organic compounds. Unlike the underlying permineralized skeletal bone, the integument renderings of these “dinosaur mummies” are preserved as a thin external clay mask, a templating process documented previously only in anoxic marine settings.
DOI: adw3536
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw3536