The Dinosaur Mummy by Brian Thomas, M.S. * We often think that
mummies are only found in Egypt, but they have been discovered
all over the world. They aren’t always human, either. A
mummified dinosaur fossil was found by amateur researchers in
2000 in Malta, Montana. Due to the mummification process it
underwent, it retained original skin impressions with possibly
some of the original tissue still intact.1 Dubbed “Leonardo,”
this hadrosaur is “the most complete dinosaur fossil ever
discovered,” and even has a mummified stomach containing
magnolia, fern, and conifer vegetation. The Discovery Channel
aired a program about Leonardo on September 15, 2008.2 Leonardo
has puzzled researchers for years, and paleopathologist Arthur
Aufderheide of the University of Minnesota at Duluth, an expert
in mummified remains, was called in to help answer some
important questions about the fossil, including: “Why did
nothing eat him? Why did his flesh and internal structures not
rot away like virtually every other fossil ever fo