Re: the Benevento theropod is named!

[Chris Nedin <cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au>]

Tom Holtz wrote:

[deleted]

>>I would like the opportunity to be the first to publically call it Skippy
>>the Dinosaur. :-)

So, at heart you are just a frustrated Aussie!! :-)

[deleted]

>>Mineralized internal features are present, including muscle fibers, and 3D
>>preserved intestines!  The small intestine is present in the anterior half
>>of the abdominal cavity, while the colon extends through the pelvic canal
>>and down subparallel to the ischium.
>>
>>Unfortunately, no external integument is preserved: no sign of skin nor
>>anything (scale, protofeather, hair, loofa, sandpaper, etc.) on it.

This is no great surprise.  Exceptional preservation such as this depends
on a carefully maintained microenvironment in order to precipitate the
calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate necessary to preserve soft tissue.
Thus only the internal 'soft' tissues will decay rapidly enough to produce
enough acid  plus dissolved phosphate levels to allow soft tissue
mineralisation.  The outer tissues will loose acidity and phosphate
concentration to the external environment and will not preserve soft
tissues.

Chris

cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au                  nedin@ediacara.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Many say it was a mistake to come down from the trees, some say
the move out of the oceans was a bad idea. Me, I say the stiffening
of the notochord in the Cambrian was where it all went wrong,
it was all downhill from there.