A Tyrannosaurus rex Mummy?

Publication Info:

Transcript:

While the presence of skin/integument has been heavily implied, it has not been explicitly announced or confirmed at this point.

Found On Newcastle Ranch, 'Rex Jr.' Could Be Most Important T. Rex Ever Discovered, Andrew Rossi, cowboystatedaily.com/2026/09/19/rex-junior-found-on-newcastle-ranch-could-be-most-important-t-rex-ever-unearthed/

Soon we may finally be finding out if Tyrannosaurus Rex had feathers, scales, or smooth skin! A T. rex mummy is currently being prepared, and once this research is published it could change everything we know about the tyrant lizard king!

Episode 346

Notes:

We're finally going to know if T-Rex had feathers or scaly or smooth skin. So, you might remember last year's Edmontosaurus mummy. Now, obviously, this wasn't a mummy in the same way that there are mummified humans. It's still a fossil, but it's amazingly well preserved with soft tissue to the point where it almost looks like a mummy. Well, it turns out the Edmontosaurus mummies weren't the only dinosaurs recovered from the {quote} "mummy zone". Meet Rex Junior, a 67 million-year-old T-Rex specimen with amazing detail that's preserved in 3D. Now, unfortunately, erosion took its head, part of its tail, but its torso is amazingly well preserved along with at least one, most likely both of its arms and partial legs. And these are all preserved completely in 3D including the life position of bones like the wishbone. And Rex Junior was so well preserved that it's being suggested that it was probably buried alive or at least immediately after dying before it could start to decompose or even really settle. The specimen's still being prepared in Chicago. So, obviously, there's not a paper yet and nobody's going to give any spoilers about exactly what's been found, but Paul Sereno himself did give a little bit of a hint that it doesn't have scaly skin. So, do you think we're going to see T-Rex feathers soon or do you think maybe it had smooth skin? We'll have to see, but honestly, I can't wait. Now, like I said, there's no paper so I can't provide a source paper, but I can provide the source article that I used if you want more information.