It appears probable that in a number of cases these priceless
skin impressions were mostly destroyed in removing the fossil
specimens from their surroundings because the explorers were not
expecting to find anything of the kind. Altogether seven specimens
have been discovered in which these delicate skin impressions were
partly preserved, but the 'Trachodon mummy' far surpasses all the
others, as it yields a nearly complete picture of the outer covering.
"The reason the Sternberg specimen (_Trachodon annectens_) may be
known as a dinosaur 'mummy' is that in all the parts of the animal
which are preserved (_i.e._ all except the hind limbs and the tail),
the epidermis is shrunken around the limbs, tightly drawn along the
bony surfaces, and contracted like a great curtain below the chest
area. This condition of the epidermis suggests the following theory of
the deposition and preservation of this wonderful specimen, namely:
that after dying a natural death the animal was not attacked or preyed
upon by its enemies, and the body lay exposed to the sun entirely
undisturbed for a long time, perhaps upon a broad sand flat of a
stream in the low-water stage; the muscles and viscera thus became
completely dehydrated, or desiccated by the action of the sun, the
epidermis shrank around the limbs, was tightly drawn down along all
the bony surfaces, and became hardened and leathery, on the abdominal
surfaces the epidermis was certainly drawn within the body cavity,
while it was thrown into creases and folds along the sides of the body
owing to the shrinkage of the tissues within.
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