Computer Graphics World

L eonardo was a Brachylophosaur, a short-crested lizard; a typical member of the hadrosaurid fam- ily. ese duckbilled dinosaurs were com- mon herbivores that roamed the earth more than 75 million years ago. Leonardo's life appears ordinary for his time. He lum- bered through tropical forests, probably traveling in a herd. He ate vegetation—no doubt a lot of it. And he died suddenly and, it appears, violently, just as most of these beasts did. Today, though, Leonardo is considered quite extraordinary. He is one of the few articulated and partially mum- mifi ed dinosaur skeletons ever discovered. And, he holds great potential in unlocking secrets to the late-Cretaceous past, fi nally giving scientists defi nitive information to so many questions that for years they could only answer speculatively. Found in 2000 by fossil hunters near Malta, Montana, Leonardo (so named when the explorers found the moniker "Leonard" etched in a stone nearby) was quickly hailed as one of the most unique and important di- nosaur fi nds in history. at's be- cause most dinosaur discoveries consist of a crumbled piece of bone fragment; it is the culmination of many such fragments from various sites that com- pose the mounted fossils we see at muse- ums (see "No Bones About It," February 2001). e fossil of Leonardo, on the other hand, was nearly intact, missing only part of the tail. Furthermore, he was articulated, meaning he retained his three-dimensional shape over many millennia. He is covered in fossilized skin, and his remains had been mummifi ed by a natural event (see "Per- fectly Preserved," pg. 36), leaving an excel- lent possibility that some of his internal organs and muscle are still present. "Normally we just fi nd bones, maybe skeletons. On rare occasion they are articu- lated, and even more rare do they have soft tissue preserved," says Pete Larson, a pale- ontologist from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota. "In this case, we had all that. e bones are presented and are articulated the way they were when the animal was dying, and we had the preservation of the remains of soft tissue. So we can potentially study the di- gestive systems, respiratory systems, circu- latory systems, and pulmonary-circulatory systems of these creatures. Potentially. We do not know yet if we will be able to do that, but it's specimens like this that off er us a chance." Afterlife In the summer of 2000, freelance paleon- tologist Nate Murphy uncovered Leonardo's mummifi ed, fossilized body. Before the crew could transport the 6.5-ton block of dinosaur to a nearby vaulted studio, where Murphy and others would begin the metic- ulous cleaning process, a steel support struc- ture was placed under the extremely fragile specimen to keep it from breaking apart. Eventually, prominent scientists in the digital imaging fi elds were brought into the fold. Using cutting-edge techniques, they were able to conduct a virtual au- topsy of sorts on the dinosaur, thoroughly examining him, both inside and outside, for clues as to how the prehistoric beast lived and died. As it was, Leonardo was a remarkable fi nd; would he prove even more so in terms of scientifi c discov- ery? Alas, an examination of this magnitude would be expen- sive. However, Digital Imaging ■ ■ ■ ■ Artist Michael Berglund made this rendering of Leonardo, a Brachylophosaur that for years has had the scientifi c community abuzz due to its well-preserved fossilized remains. is considered quite extraordinary. He is one of the few articulated and partially mum- mifi ed dinosaur skeletons ever discovered. And, he holds great potential in unlocking secrets to the late-Cretaceous past, fi nally giving scientists defi nitive information to so many questions that for years they could Found in 2000 by fossil hunters near Malta, Montana, Leonardo (so named when the explorers found the moniker "Leonard" etched in a stone nearby) was quickly hailed as one of the consist of a crumbled piece of bone fragment; it is the culmination of many such fragments from various sites that com- pose the mounted fossils we see at muse- ums (see "No Bones About It," February lated, and even more rare do they have soft tissue preserved," says Pete Larson, a pale- ontologist from the t from the t Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota. "In h in South Dakota. "In h this case, we had all that. e bones are presented and are articulated the way they were when the animal was dying, and we As it was, Leonardo was a remarkable fi nd; would he prove even more so in terms of scientifi c discov- ery? Alas, an examination of this magnitude would be expen- sive. However, Artist Michael Berglund made this rendering of Leonardo, a Brachylophosaur that for years has Brachylophosaur that for years has Brachylophosaur had the scientifi c community abuzz due to its well-preserved fossilized remains. Cutting-edge digital imaging techniques gave scientists a much clearer view of Leonardo's X-ray results. On the right is the original X-ray; on the left is the same image after further processing. © Julius T. Csotonyi (csotonyi.com); Leonardo TM Great Plains Dinosaur Museum. Image by Michael Berglund, Minnefex Inc.

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