A 700,000-year-old lizard skeleton was found
Paleontologists from Spain made a discovery on one of the Canary Islands, after they found the skeleton of a lizard preserved in intact condition, even though it was at least 700,000 years old.
The lizard fossil was found within a 19-kg sandstone block on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The researchers attributed the reason why it remained in good condition to its sudden death in the sand, which prevented it from decomposing.
This fossil belongs to the animal "Gallotia goliath", an extinct type of giant lizard that lived a long time ago, according to what was reported by the newspaper "Newsweek".
The sand mass also contained a second, smaller lizard, but it is in a very poor state of preservation, and the researchers suggested that the two lizards died together in the sand dunes.
A sample of the large lizard fossil was subjected to a microscopic survey at the University of La Laguna on the island, and then transported to the capital, Madrid, to undergo a more in-depth study, under the supervision of paleontologist Carolina Castillo Ruiz. The analyzes will be compared with other extinct lizards in the Canary Islands. These studies allow us to confirm the type of new lizard discovered, and determine whether the sample is 100% “Gallotia goliath,” or another species.
Source: websites