Re: Lava and dinosaurs

["Ray Stanford" <dinotracker@earthlink.net>]

David Krentz asked, "...What would happen if lava covered up the body of a
dinosaur, or any other creature for that matter?  Would there be anything
left even if some of the body was not completly buried or would the heat
cremate everything?"

    I think that if the dinosaur were of sufficient size, we might see
something like or analogous to what was found at Pompeii (humans, dogs,
etc):  a moderately detailed cavity which the dinosaur body occupied in the
ash or lava when it was initially encapsulated by same.  Because of the age,
we might also find that cavity secondarily filled with a mineral cast of the
body shape.  SOMETHING FOR WHICH TO LOOK, because I do not recall ever
reading of such a discovery.  Maybe certain paleontologists should search
for -- well, let's call them 'pyro-mummies' for now -- in volcanic areas
adjacent to known dinosaur sites, such as near Horner's Miasaura nesting
area?

    My dos centavos worth.

    Ray Stanford