Most Complete Dinosaur Found: Intact Skin, Soft Tissue

duckbilled hadrosaurOne of the most complete dinosaur mummies ever found is revealing secrets locked away for millions of years, bringing researchers as close as they will ever get to touching a live dino.

The fossilized duckbilled hadrosaur is so well preserved that scientists have been able to calculate its muscle mass and learn that it was more muscular than thought, probably giving it the ability to outrun predators such as T. rex.

duckbilled hadrosaur
While they call it a mummy, the dinosaur is not really preserved like King Tut was. The dinosaur body has been fossilized into stone. Unlike the collections of bones found in museums, this hadrosaur came complete with skin, ligaments, tendons and possibly some internal organs, according to researchers.

Scientists have concluded that hadrosaurs were bigger -- 3.5 tons and up to 40 feet long -- and stronger than had been known, were quick and flexible and had skin with scales that may have been striped. They estimated the hadrosaur's top speed at about 28 mph (45 km/h), 10 mph (16 km/h) faster than the giant T. Rex is thought to have been able to run.

Source: Cnn
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