Scale ghosts and muscle bundles: more Flood evidence
A remarkably well preserved fossil marine lizard has been discovered in Puglia, Italy, in a limestone deposit already well known for its abundance of fossil fish. The new species of marine lizard, named Primitivus manduriensis, is thought to have had a semi-aquatic lifestyle.
Easily observed on the specimen were abundant fossil soft tissues. These included ‘scale ghosts’ (the impression of the outline of the outer scales preserved in the inner layer of the skin beneath them), three-dimensional collagen fibres and muscle bundles, and with slightly closer examination even its stomach contents, which included a partially digested bone. The study highlighted that the “muscle fibres are so well preserved that the single myomeres [blocks of muscle tissue] can be easily distinguished with the naked eye”!
Lead author of the study, Ilaria Paparella, explained: “There need to be very special conditions for soft tissue to be preserved on a fossil”. In this particular case the study detailed that part of those special conditions were the “Short time [that] passed between the death of the animal … and burial after landing on the seafloor”. She went on to say, “For living species, scientists use scale patterns and skin for identification. It was unique to be using these techniques to look at a specimen that died 70 million years ago”.
Rather than try to continue to force such wonderful fossils into ‘millions-of-years’ geology it makes much more sense that this specimen was formed rapidly in the global Flood the Bible describes occurring 4,500 years ago; hence its remarkable state.
- Willis, K., Scientists discover new species of ancient marine lizard, phys.org, 21 June 2018.
- Paparella, I., et al, A new fossil marine lizard with soft tissues from the Late Cretaceous of southern Italy, R. Soc. Open Sci. 5:172411, 2018 | doi.10.1098/rsos.172411.
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