domingo, mayo 21, 2017

Bringing the fossil crocodile from Ordesa back to life

https://www.precipita.es/proyecto/sacando-a-la-vida-el-cocodrilo-fosil-de-ordesa.html
 

Ordesa’s crocodile is a unique fossil specimen of the skull of a marine crocodile, previously unknown from Spain. It is over 50 million years old. And its awaiting to be extracted from the rock it was found in, twenty years ago in the “Faja de las Flores” in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Huesca Province And that it what we intend to do: to bring back to live the Crocodile form Ordesa

It is currently inside a very hard rock, just like it was found, but some bone fragments can be seen in the surface, suggesting that the complete skull is inside the rock
 

This fossil has never been show to the public, and we never had the opportunity to study it in detail, but we know it is represents a new species
With your support, we will be able to hire a professional fossil preparator, but before that, we will CT-Scan the specimen, to better know what is hidden inside the rock. We will make a 3D virtual replica that will help in both preparation and study.


Th next step will be preparation, with a combination of mechanical and chemical techniques, a very delicate process for a fossil of this features.
Finally, once we know the inside and outside of the specimen, we will describe the new species, and finally give it its deserved spot in the Natural History Museum of the University of Zaragoza, to give it back to the public, for enjoying and learning.


Through the crowdfunding platform Precipita, we intend to:
Hire a professional preparator, to extract and stabilise the fossil
Once prepared, we will be able to study and show it to the public in the MCNUZ-
With your help, we will be able to recover an exceptional specimen, the skull of the Crocodile from Ordesa, and share what we learn from him with the public in our free access Museum.


In addition, you will be part of the team that will make possible the description of a new fossil species of marine crocodile that lived in the Pyrenees 50 million years ago.


Can you please help us to recover the Crocodile from Ordesa?


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