...it's DINO-MUMMY.
Sorry, I couldn't help using the spooky movie preview voice. This story just screams for it. Well, it does if you only read the headline; afterwards, not so much.
Anyway, paleontologists have released new details on a remarkable fossil find from 1999. What makes this find so exciting is that instead of just fossilized bones, this specimen was "mummified" by mineral deposits before the tissue could decompose, leaving fossilized muscle, ligaments, and even skin. This is the best artifact of dinosaur anatomy yet and will likely lead to new conclusions about the life of those giants of yesteryear.
I was a HUGE dinosaur fanatic when I was a little tyke. I knew all the various species and wanted to grow up to be a paleontologist. (That all lasted until I went to Sea World and fell in love with whales, dolphins, sea lions, otters, and sharks, leading to my next future career as a marine biologist. FYI - I am not now, nor have I ever been anything close to a marine biologist.)
Be that as it may, however, there are two points I'd like to make:
First, scientists have totally changed their thinking on dinosaurs in the last 20-odd years. We used to regard them as lumbering hulks of minimal intelligence who sat around in swamps because they were so damned massive. Then Michael Crichton single-handedly rewrote every paleo-history book. Alright, maybe not, but the dinos portrayed in Jurassic Park represented a new view on the extinct ones. Now we think of them as mobile, agile, and as intelligent as any mammal or reptile living today. So, the lesson to be learned is that the learning is never complete. Science - and scientists - can always add more to the story.
Second, this particular fossil was discovered by a teenager on his family's ranch in North Dakota. This find, and other digging, has led him to found a non-profit research organization dedicated to finding and preserving fossils, and to Yale, where he is currently working on his Ph.D. in paleontology. How wonderfully American dream-ish! Find some bones in your backyard, fall in love with them, and commit yourself to adding to the common understanding of our planet's past.
Oh, one more thing. Did you notice the hexagonal pattern on the skin in the picture above? Ah, the hexagon - Nature's miracle shape. Being a bit obsessive about things like efficiency myself, I admit to a secret love of the hexagon, and it's curvy cousin, the sphere. Why are you looking at me funny?
