Recent Discoveries
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff 
Recent Discoveries: Ancient Innards 
A 113-million-year-old baby dinosaur fossil was found in the Pietraroia limestone formation in Italy's Benevento province with much of its soft tissue intact, including muscles, intestines, and liver. The extraordinary discovery of this prehistoric creature's fossilized organs is expected to provide scientists with important information about dinosaur anatomy.
The nine-inch dinosaur specimen was named Scipionyx and belongs to the group called theropods, which includes Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptors. Although the unique fossil was discovered by an amateur paleontologist a decade ago, it was not recognized as dinosaur remains until recently. It is the first dinosaur fossil ever found in Italy.
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