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

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.q573n5tx4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5tx4)

## Description of the data and file structure

A .zip folder containing electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction raw supplemental data for: Paul C. Sereno *et al.*, Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template “mummification”. *Science*, DOI: 10.1126/science.adw3536. The authors allow for reuse of this data.

#### **Electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis of spikes in matrix**

Thin sections of a block containing several mid caudal spikes of the early adult of *E. annectens* (UCRC PV30) were visualized under LM and subjected to BSE/EDS and XRD clay analysis (for analytical abbreviations, see the supplementary materia...,