The 133-million-year-old specimen is a stunningly well-preserved sample of mineralized tissue from inside a Cretaceous dinosaur skull.
A brown, pebble-sized object found in a rock pool on a beach near Bexhill, Sussex bears the first evidence of fossilized dinosaur brain tissue, scientists say.
Found in 2004 by an amateur fossil collector, the object is the cast of a dinosaur’s brain cavity, and appears to show a thin veneer of mineralised tissues on its surface.
The fossil also shows similarities to modern crocodiles and birds. Its discovery may shed light on how the brains of dinosaurs and other creatures evolved over time, an area where researchers have had comparatively little information before now.
Researchers may understand more about the evolutionary link through technology, too. While the team has already conducted a CT scan, there are hopes of performing future 3D scans that help compare the iguanodontid’s brain to that of present-day creatures.
Finding fossilized tissue is very rare, but the researchers believe this brain tissue was so well-preserved because it was pickled in a body of water shortly after the creature’s death. “What we think happened is that this particular dinosaur died in or near a body of water, and its head ended up partially buried in the sediment at the bottom,” David Norman, who coordinated the research of the fossil, said in a statement.
Source : National Geographic