Overview
- The roughly 66-million-year-old Edmontosaurus section nicknamed Medusa was brought into the Science Laboratory Center after workers removed windows, remaining sealed in a 14,000-pound plaster jacket.
- Researchers report visible areas with skin and tendon textures, with laboratory work planned to determine how much soft tissue is preserved.
- The preserved torso measures about 12 feet by 7 feet without the head or tail, indicating the animal likely spanned roughly 20 to 25 feet in life.
- A team led by Winona State graduate Adam Schroeder excavated the specimen from North Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation, lowering it 85 feet from a cliff and hand-moving it about 100 feet.
- Undergraduates will join projects such as analyzing the chemistry of the skin and surrounding rock, with scientists noting the specimen could yield rare insights into Late Cretaceous ecosystems.