Friday, May 3, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Palaeontology > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Palaeontology

'Skin bones' helped dinosaurs survive

By T.K. Randall
December 2, 2011 · Comment icon 5 comments

Image Credit: Gerhard Boeggemann
Some dinosaurs may have stored vital minerals in bones encased within their skin, it has been revealed.
Known as osteoderms, these "skin bones" would have helped to maintain the huge skeletons of large sauropod dinosaurs as well as to produce larger egg clusters. "Our findings suggest that osteoderms provided an internal source of calcium and phosphorus when environmental and physiological conditions were stressful," said biomedical scientist Matthew Vickaryous.
Bones contained entirely within the skin of some of the largest dinosaurs on Earth might have stored vital minerals to help the massive creatures survive and bear their young in tough times, according to new research by a team including a University of Guelph scientist.


Source: PhysOrg.com | Comments (5)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by 3.0 13 years ago
Dragons with armor plated skin?
Comment icon #2 Posted by gnostic-deity 13 years ago
kewl 3
Comment icon #3 Posted by psyche101 13 years ago
I would have thought they aided protection, amazing hypothesis.
Comment icon #4 Posted by SameerPrehistorica 12 years ago
That's great ...I read similar news like this before.
Comment icon #5 Posted by Englishgent 12 years ago
Strange. I thought all bones were contained entirely within the skin.


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Top 10 trending mysteries
Recent news and articles