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A 280-million-year-old fossil thought to be a well-preserved specimen of an ancient reptile is largely a forgery, according to new research.
The fossil, which was first discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931, has the scientific name Tridentinosaurus antiquus. Scientists thought that the deep contour of the lizardlike body encased in the rock was skin and soft tissue, and they thought that the t -a fossil is a piece of the puzzle to understand the early evolution of reptiles.
The fossil has appeared in book and article citations over the years, but no one has ever studied it in detail. Housed in the collections at the University of Padua’s Museum of Nature and Humanity in Italy, the remains raised many questions about the exact nature of the creature in which it lived in the absence of additional specimens of the same type.
Detailed new analysis has shown that the dark color of the fossil is not genetic – it’s just black paint covering a few carved bones and rocks. The researchers behind the study reported their findings February 15 in the journal Paleontology.
“The body contours of this fossil specimen are also similar in color to real soft tissue of plants and animals,” said lead study author Dr. Valentina Rossi, a postdoctoral researcher in palaeobiology at University College Cork in Ireland, in an email. “Therefore, without the use of diagnostic techniques, the dark colored material could not be properly identified.”
The revelation highlights the new knowledge that can be gained from re-examining old and previously studied fossil specimens in museum collections using the latest technological methods.
Forgery exposed
Reptiles first appeared between the Carboniferous and Permian periods, around 310 million to 320 million years ago. But understanding the evolution of scaly vertebrates depends on what paleontologists find in the fossil record, and the diversity of the earliest reptiles remains a knowledge gap that researchers are trying to fill.
Even rarer among ancient finds are fossils containing soft tissue, which has the ability to harbor vital biological information such as DNA.
When the specimen was discovered, the researchers thought that the fossil could provide a rare insight into the evolution of reptiles.
“The fossil was believed to be unique because there were no other examples from the same geographic area and geological period of that preservation in a fossil vertebrate at the time,” Rossi said.
But the supposed skin color was similar to that observed in fossil plants found in similar rocks, Rossi said.
There were strange things about the discovery, such as the general lack of visible bones, including the bones of the skull, despite the fact that the body did not appear to be completely flat. So the initial assessment was that the specimen was essentially a mummy of an ancient reptile.
“A plausible explanation is that the bones were hidden under the skin layer and therefore not visible,” Rossi said. “There are very few examples of dinosaur mummies, where much like human mummies, the bones are still wrapped within the skin which is preserved in 3D.”
Fascinated by the growing uncertainty surrounding the fossil, Rossi and her colleagues began their study in 2021 examining it with ultraviolet photography. The analysis showed that the specimen was covered with a thick coating, Rossi said.
“Covering fossils with varnish is an ancient method of preservation because, in the past, there were no other suitable methods to protect fossils from natural decay,” said study co-author Mariagabriella Fornasiero, curator of paleontology at the Museum Nature and Man, in a. statement.
Hoping to find biological information about the fossil under the coating, the team used powerful microscopes to analyze samples of the remains across different wavelengths of light.
Instead, the researchers determined that the outline of the body was carved into the rock and painted with “animal charcoal,” a commercial pigment used about 100 years ago made by burning animal bones. The carving also explained why the specimen seemed to retain a life-like shape, rather than being flatter like a real fossil.
“The answer to all our questions was right in front of us, we had to study this fossil specimen in detail to reveal its secrets – even those we might not want to know,” said Rossi.
The result was unexpected, but it explains why the fossil researchers were in danger for years. The latest research confirms that it is not “the oldest mummy in the world,” study co-author Evelyn Kustatscher, curator of paleontology at the South Tyrol Museum of Nature in Bolzano, Italy, and coordinator of the research project, said in a statement.
Old secrets and new questions
Interestingly, there are actual bones within the fossil. The hind limbs, though in poor condition, are real, and there are also traces of osteoderms, or scalar structures. Now, the researchers are trying to determine the exact age of the bones and which animal they belong to. The team is also studying the rock, which may preserve insightful data from 280 million years ago.
This is not the first time a fossil forgery has been discovered, but Rossi said this particular style of forgery is unusual.
“The only fossil I know of painted over a rock is a fossilized lobster that was made to look like a giant spider,” Rossi said. “However, in this particular case, the type of paint was not identified, but I bet it is carbon-based similar to what we found on our fossil.”
Due to the lack of records accompanying the fossil, including a description of exactly what was found in 1931, Rossi and her team cannot be absolutely certain that the forgery was done on purpose.
“We believe, since some of the bones are visible, that someone tried to reveal more of the skeleton, by digging more or less where one would expect to find the rest of the animal, ” said Rossi. “The lack of proper tools to prepare the hard rock didn’t help and perhaps applying the paint at the end was a way to embellish the final work. Unfortunately, whether all of this was intentional or not, it has misled many experts into portraying this fossil as exceptionally well-preserved.”
Using advanced techniques to study fossils can reveal their true nature, Rossi said.
“It is vital that research uses new methods to take a closer look at discoveries that have already been examined,” said study co-author Fabrizio Nestola, professor of mineralogy and president of the University Center for Museums at the University of Padua. in his statement.
“The Tridentinosaurus is an example of how science can reveal old secrets – and how they can lead to new questions,” Nestola added. “It will then be the task of our museum to process the newly acquired information and give it to the public to guide scientific and cultural debate.”
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