Scipionyx samniticus - Enchanted Learning

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Scipionyx samniticus
One of the most important recent dinosaur finds is a tiny theropod (meat-eater) fossil found in Cretaceous limestone in southern Italy near Naples. Although it was unearthed 10 years ago, its true importance was not realized until lately. It is a very important specimen in that it has fossilized impressions of many of its internal organs and muscles. This type of detail is rare in fossils since the soft tissues from an animal do not usually fossilize; they almost always rot before mineral replacement can take place. This new fossil will yield a lot of information about dinosaur's anatomy and physiology as it is studied.

The fossils is a theropod, perhaps a maniraptor (related to Velociraptor). It is a hatchling 9.5 inches (24 cm) long. It is from 113 million years ago (during the Cretaceous period) and has been named Scipionyx samniticus. During the Cretaceous period it lived near a shallow lagoon.

(reference: Cristiano Dal Sasso and Marco Signore in Nature, vol. 392 (March 26, 1998):383-387)

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