The Fossilisation Process

When a land dwelling vertebrate dies its carcass is commonly disarticulated, this means its limbs are removed, often by predators and scavengers alike. Most of the decomposition of the organic material is done by bacteria that will feast on the rotting flesh that remains on the bones. Some bones are completely stripped clean of flesh and bleached in the sun. Others might be carried off or gnawed by rodents. Sometimes, disarticulated remains are trampled and scattered by herds of animals.


Sooner or later the bones are either destroyed or buried. If they aren’t digested their destruction can come from weathering; this is when the minerals in the bone begin to break down and the bones disintegrate. But the weathering can be stopped by rapid burial, it’s at this point fossils are formed. A body fossil is part of an organism that is buried and a trace fossil is an impression left behind in the ground by the organism.


Bone is made out of calcium-sodium hydroxyl apatite, this mineral weathers easily, this means that the mineral is no longer present once a bone becomes fossilised. This mineralogy can remain intact if the bone doe not come into contact with any fluids during its burial, something that is extremely rare.

It is possible to find tissues of extinct animals. Since bones are porous, the spaces once occupied by blood vessels and nerves fill up with minerals. This is called permineralisation.

Fossil of Archaeopteryx. Image credit Humboldt
Museum Fur Naturkunde Berlin

Pristine fossils can be found in geological lagerstatte, feathers of dinosaurs are known from these lagerstatte. Most famously the early bird Archaeopteryx is known from the Solnhofen lagerstatte in Germany.

Ammonite shells are originally made of aragonite, this is unstable so when fossilisation begins the aragonite becomes the more stable calcite. This calcite creates a cast of the shell and this is what we find today.

Woolly Mammoths and Woolly Rhinos have been discovered mummified in the permafrost in Siberia and Alaska. Soft tissue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex has even been found which allowed palaeontologists to see that the animal was female, within the fossil, red blood cells and connective tissues were found.

Natural mummies have been found in a variety of locations around the world; bog deposits or tar pits, deep inside caves, glacier ice and in the permafrost of Alaska and Siberia. A Woolly Rhinoceros was found mummified after it was covered in salty ground water that essentially pickled the carcass, preventing bacteria and microorganisms digesting the flesh by altering the pH of the environment which means that microorganisms cannot survive in these acidic conditions.

Mummified dinosaurs have been found, good examples of these mummies come from Brachylophosaurus and Edmontosaurus. Leonardo, the Brachylophosaurus that features in the palaeoart post, had skin impressions, muscle impressions that showed an excess of tissue around the neck, even parasites are found on Leonardo.


The permafrost is also effective as the low temperature prevents the bacteria from respiring by removing any moisture on the carcass through freezing. However, once the mummy is excavated the bacteria become active and decomposition begins.

Palaeoart: Brachylophosaurus in the river

I wanted to highlight this piece of artwork by Julius C. Csotonyl because of its palaeontological importance and the reason for its creation.

This piece shows a dead hadrosaur, Brachylophosaurus canadensis, on a sand bank in a turbulent river. Not only is the artwork beautifully executed with real force coming through in the torrents of the river, but this was actually created because of an important discovery. Numerous mummified brachylophosaurs have been discovered, the best preserved, named Leonardo, exhibits remnants of a ceratinous beak, skin impressions showing a scaly covering. Also an interesting adaptation of extra thick muscle around the neck, possibly to make it more difficult for predators to make a kill. We can also see that the animals were dominated by parasitic worms because of this specimen. The mummy is on display in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. 

The best way that a mummy like this could have been created is if the carcass of the dinosaur was left untouched and then rapidly covered with sediment. This would explain why the skin impressions survived the process of fossilisation. This environment for preservation is best provided by a river, preferably a powerful one, as depicted above. 

This piece is therefore interesting to me because it shows a key study in palaeontology; taphonomy. Taphonomy is the study of what happens to an animal between death and discovery, so basically looks at the mechanisms of fossilisation. 

What do you guys think? Is this interesting piece to see or is there another artwork that you find even more fascinating? Let me know in the comments.