Prehistoric Reptile Casts Turn Out To Be Copies Of Priceless Fossil Destroyed In WW2
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Scientists found copies of a lost fossil destroyed in WWII hiding in a U.S. museum.
The world's first complete skeleton of a prehistoric reptile brought to the attention of science was discovered a little over 200 years ago and named Proteosaurus. Unfortunately, that fossil was destroyed in an air raid in May 1941, during WWII, with no copies thought to exist.
Now, paleontologists have found and identified two plaster casts (copies) held in collections outside of the U.K. which have revealed new information about this historically significant fossil. The casts were discovered by Dr. Dean Lomax, a paleontologist and Visiting Scientist at the University of Manchester, and Professor Judy Massare, from the State University of New York, Brockport, U.S.
[...] Dr. Dean Lomax said, "When research on this fossil was published, it was still more than 20 years before the word 'dinosaur' would be invented. This and other early ichthyosaur finds sparked a major interest in collecting more of these curious, enigmatic creatures. The discoveries and research on ichthyosaurs played an important role in establishing paleontology as a scientific discipline."
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