Paleontologists all over the world continue to search for dinosaur remains. Usually, the remains will be a discovery of tracks that were preserved on stones or on caves. However, remnants of soft tissues in the body like the skin or the muscles are very rare. Oftentimes, the ones they find are not well-preserved and couldn't distinguish whether it's from dinosaurs or not. In fact, only 1% of most of the discoveries show traces of the skin.
However, recent research studies show new evidence of the existence of dinosaurs. In Jinju City, Korea, Kyung-Soo Kim, a professor of the Chinju National University of Education recently found what seemed like dinosaur tracks with perfect traces of the skin.
In an article published in journal Scientific Reports, Marin Locklet, a Geology Professor Emeritus from CU Denver along with Kim, Jong Deock Lim of Korea and Lida Xing of Beijing, they described the skin traces as something that has been "exquisitely preserved." They emphasized that it was the first tracks of dinosaurs that were found whose skin has been very well preserved.
"These are the first tracks that were ever found with perfect skin impressions over the entire surface that we found," Lockley said. The patterns on the skin of various types of dinosaurs vary. It is like their fingerprints that showed the difference in the signatures of their anatomy.
The skin specimens that they found were attributed to the smallest theropod ever known to man. The species is called as the Minisauripus. The footprints found were only about an inch long and the best part is that the skin they found were perfectly preserved. This wasn't the first discovery. In fact, there were 9 other discoveries made by the same researchers, but this is the only one with the Minisauripus tracks that show actual traces of the skin.
The tracks that were found during large-scale excavations were almost lost. Kim was in charge of the survey of the predevelopment paleontology and he came to the rescue. He was able to stop the excavation. He worked to stop the moment he saw the first track in one of the broken slabs. With the help of the other members of the team, he was able to find four more slabs with tracks and perfectly preserved skin traces.
"The tracks were made on a very thin layer of mud," Lockley said. "It was rather thin that it imitates a fresh coat of paint that's only a millimeter thick." When the dinosaur by the size of a blackbird stepped on this sticky yet firm surface, the texture of the foot was reproduced on it perfectly without any form of sliding or slipping.
The evidence shows that before the tracks were made by this dinosaur, there has been rain that left water impressions on the surface. In one place, the dinosaur has stepped on a raindrop proving that it had rained before the dinosaur stepped on the slab. All the delicate evidence was collected for further testing and research.
This new development about dinosaurs gives researchers new hope of explaining what had happened that caused their major wipeout on earth. The same study aims at understanding how life on Earth may end in the future.
