Electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, & X-ray diffraction data from: Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template “mummification”

Two “mummies” of the end-Cretaceous, duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus
annectens preserve a fleshy crest over the neck and trunk, an
interdigitating spike row over the hips and tail, and hooves capping the
toes of the hind feet. A battery of tests shows that all the fossilized
integument (skin, spike, hoof) are preserved as a thin (< 1mm) clay
template that formed on the surface of a buried carcass during decay prior
to loss of all soft tissues and organic compounds. Unlike the underlying
permineralized skeletal bone, the integument renderings of these “dinosaur
mummies” are preserved as a thin external clay mask, a templating process
documented previously only in anoxic marine settings.