Well-Preserved Skin Fossil of a Carnivorous Dinosaur May Open New Doors in the Study of Prehistoric Animals

Long-dead animals' exteriors seldom make it into the fossil record. That's why a recent examination reveals a complex covering of scales, studs, thorns, lumps, and wrinkles on this remarkably well-preserved skin of a renowned predatory dinosaur.

According to the scientists, these parallel lines resemble elephant skin wrinkles and considering that both theropods and African elephants are big terrestrial animals without sweat glands that live in hotter temperatures, these ridges may have similar purposes. (African elephants have wrinkles on their skin to increase surface area and more efficiently evaporate heat.)

"While we do not claim that Carnotaurus and elephants thermoregulated in the same ways (i.e., using evaporative cooling), we do note that their integument shares distinct gross morphological similarities, despite one having scales and the other having a highly modified mammalian epidermis" the authors write.

Theropod skin is likely to have played at least some function in thermoregulation, they believe, regardless of the specifics. So future studies on the scaly skin of early dinosaurs might reveal a lot more than just their appearance. It might also reveal information about how they lived.

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