Hadrosauridae indet. (specimen YPMPU 016969)

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Time: Late Cretaceous

Region: USA

Formation: N/A

Coloration Data

Scanning electron microscopy of a skin fragment from specimen YPMPU 016969 revealed an amorphous organic layer without preserved melanosome morphology. Nonetheless, spectroscopic techniques successfully detected chemical signatures of eumelanin (the pigment responsible for dark grey and black coloration) within the dermal tissue, whereas pheomelanin biomarkers were absent. This points to a probable uniform grey or dark-grey integument. A comprehensive color reconstruction remains constrained by the lack of data regarding non-melanin pigments and the absence of skin samples from other regions of the body.

Method: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman microspectroscopy, and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX).

Publications

• Matteo Fabbri, Jasmina Wiemann, Fabio Manucci, Derek E. G. Briggs (2019)
  Study of the skin of the hadrosaur YPMPU 016969.

Documents and files

• Fabbri_et_al_2019.pdf (PDF)
  Study of the hadrosaur skin specimen YPMPU 016969.

Reconstructions

Fossils