This in in regards to the linked article and photo about the fossil found by miners and written about in the Chronicle Herald of Halifax. http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1044856.html
As someone who has collected fossils and minerals all his life and tries to keep up on current finds, I can say there is something very wrong with the photo. It makes it look like they discovered a mummified dinosaur, complete with skin. There is no surrounding rock matrix on it at all! This is impossible. Even the recent and widely publicized "mummy dinosaur' found in North Dakota is not really mummified and the experts are still carefully scraping away a ton of rock from the fossilized skin. A fossil so perfect as this one seems to be would certainly not have been cut completely out of the surrounding rock because the delicate long sections would have broken.
I can think of only three reasons for such an impossible picture of a complete, unmatrixed and seemingly mummified dinosaur. First, the fossil could be a complete fake. Second, the photo could have been heavily photoshopped. Third, some private owner did grind away surrounding rock to give the appearance of skin remaining. I can't believe a museum would have been so reckless.
Are there any paleontologists out there who can give us a professional opinion on just what is being shown in the picture?
As someone who has collected fossils and minerals all his life and tries to keep up on current finds, I can say there is something very wrong with the photo. It makes it look like they discovered a mummified dinosaur, complete with skin. There is no surrounding rock matrix on it at all! This is impossible. Even the recent and widely publicized "mummy dinosaur' found in North Dakota is not really mummified and the experts are still carefully scraping away a ton of rock from the fossilized skin. A fossil so perfect as this one seems to be would certainly not have been cut completely out of the surrounding rock because the delicate long sections would have broken.
I can think of only three reasons for such an impossible picture of a complete, unmatrixed and seemingly mummified dinosaur. First, the fossil could be a complete fake. Second, the photo could have been heavily photoshopped. Third, some private owner did grind away surrounding rock to give the appearance of skin remaining. I can't believe a museum would have been so reckless.
Are there any paleontologists out there who can give us a professional opinion on just what is being shown in the picture?
