Paleontologists made a rare discovery in the recesses of an ancient Oklahoma cave, according to a report in Current Biology.
The 288-million-year-old piece of fossilized skin, belonging to a prehistoric lizard-like reptile, is now the world’s oldest preserved skin found. The previous record holder was 130 million years younger, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.
These lizard-like creatures were some of the first to live their lives entirely on dry land, away from the water’s edge. Their bodies would have been covered in pebbly, scaly skin. The new fossils contain both the exterior and internal structure of the skin.
Ancient Oklahoma cave system home to world’s oldest found fossilized skin
The fossils were found in a sediment-filled cave network known as Richards Spur, located in the southern Oklahoma town of Elgin, where the remains of early animals were buried within. It’s a place paleontologists have returned to for years, the Smithsonian reported.
“It’s an exceptional locality,” study author and University of Toronto paleontologist Ethan Mooney told the Smithsonian, thanks to the unique combination of the cave’s clay-rich sediment, lack of oxygen and the oil that seeped from the cave rocks.
Skin is exceptionally hard to find in the fossil record because it is usually eaten or rots away far faster than bones. But in this case, the animal remains were likely left in an area of the cave with low oxygen and the tough skin was able to completely dry out and be buried with the bones.
“I’ve seen a lot of Richards Spur fossils, but this is among the most meaningful,” Altmühltal Dinosaur Museum paleontologist Frederik Spindler, who was not involved in the new study, told the Smithsonian.
