A complete dinosaur skeleton could be attached to bits of a fossil found jutting out from a Canadian cliff.
A hadrosaur was found on a hillside by a volunteer field scout and University of Reading paleoecologist.
We hope to complete the excavation over the next two field seasons. This is likely to be a juvenile based on the small tail and foot.
Between 75 and 65 million years ago, duck-billed hadrosaurs were a common type of dinosaur. Adults can reach 10 meters while this one is only around 4 meters.
The tail and right hind foot are the only visible parts of the animal. The parts pose in a way that suggests the dinosaur's skeleton is still intact.
The fact that large areas of the exposed skeleton are covered in skin makes this find unique.
It's possible that there is more preserved skin within the rock, which could give us a better idea of what the hadrosaur looked like.
It must have been covered up quickly as it was so well preserved.
The animal probably died and was covered by sand and silt in the river. It was killed by a river bank falling on it.
If we're lucky, some of the internal organs might have survived.
It will take months of hard work to carve out the block of stone that contains the fossil.
Researchers will carefully expose the rest of the fossils at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. It could take a long time. They will be able to tell them which species of hadrosaur it is with an intact skull.
Dinosaurs are represented in the fossil record, but younger animals are less common. The find could help paleontologists understand the growth and development of hadrosaurs.
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