Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
It's not really mummified, it's fossilized. I hate it when the media thinks all these words are interchangable! The skin texture is there but it's not the original material (as in mummification which is usually preservative dessication combined with some kind of anerobic environment). The skin is all replaced by minerals. It's fossilized.
I think I would like that job though.
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Well, it would seem that the dinosaur probably had to be naturally mummified first, before the fossilization took place. Fossilization takes ages and ages (thousands...millions of years, unless you're a Christian fundamentalist) whereas decomposition will normally destroy the soft tissue in short order. So, while the reporters might legitimately be completely clueless, it's not too far off to call it a mummified dinosaur, which was subsequently fossilized.