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ATLANTA — A 280 million-year-old fossil thought to be a well-preserved specimen of an ancient reptile is largely a forgery, according to new research.
The fossil, initially discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931, has the scientific name Tridentinosaurus antiquus. Scientists thought the dark, deep outline of the lizardlike body encased in rock was skin and soft tissue, and they considered the fossil to be a puzzle piece for understanding early reptile evolution.
The fossil appeared in book and article citations over the decades, but no one ever studied it in detail. Housed in the collections at the University of Padua's Museum of Nature and Humankind in Italy, the relic raised many questions about the exact nature of the creature it was in life when additional, similar specimens couldn't be found.
A new, detailed analysis has revealed that the dark color of the fossil isn't preserved genetic material — it's just black paint covering a couple of bones and carved rock. The researchers behind the study reported their findings Feb. 15 in the journal Paleontology.
"The body outline of this fossil specimen has the same color of genuine fossilized soft tissues of plants and also animals," said lead study author Dr. Valentina Rossi, postdoctoral researcher in paleobiology at University College Cork in Ireland, in an email. "So, without the use of diagnostic techniques, it was impossible to identify the dark-colored material properly."
Unveiling a forgery
Researchers thought the fossil might provide a rare glimpse into reptilian evolution.
"The fossil was believed to be unique because there were no other examples from the same geographical area and geological period of that preservation in a fossil vertebrate at the time," Rossi said.
There were oddities about the find, such as a general lack of visible bones, including the skull bones, even though the body didn't appear completely flat.
Intrigued by the growing uncertainty surrounding the fossil, Rossi and her colleagues began their study in 2021 by examining it with ultraviolet photography. The analysis revealed that the specimen was covered in a thick coating, Rossi said.
"Coating fossils with varnish is an ancient method of preservation because, in the past, there were no other suitable methods to protect fossils from natural decay," said study coauthor Mariagabriella Fornasiero, curator of paleontology at the Museum of Nature and Humankind, in a statement.
Hoping to find biological information about the fossil beneath the coating, the team used powerful microscopes to analyze the samples of the remains across different wavelengths of light.
Instead, the researchers determined that the body outline was carved in the rock and painted with "animal charcoal," a commercial pigment used about 100 years ago that was made by burning animal bones. The carving also explained why the specimen appeared to retain such a lifelike shape, rather than appearing flatter like a genuine fossil.
"The answer to all our questions was right in front of us, we had to study this fossil specimen in detail to reveal its secrets — even those that perhaps we did not want to know," Rossi said.
The result was unexpected, but it explains why the fossil baffled researchers for decades.
Old secrets and new questions
Intriguingly, there are actual bones within the fossil. The hind limbs, although in poor condition, are real, and there are also traces of osteoderms, or scalelike structures. Now, the researchers are trying to determine the exact age of the bones and what animal they belonged to. The team is also studying the rock, which may also preserve insightful details from 280 million years ago.
It's not the first time a fossil forgery has been uncovered, but Rossi said this particular style of forgery is unusual.
Given the lack of records to accompany the fossil, including a description of what exactly was found in 1931, Rossi and her team can't be entirely sure that the forgery was done on purpose.
"We believe that, since some of the bones are visible, someone tried to expose more of the skeleton, by excavating more or less where someone would expect to find the rest of the animal," Rossi said. "The lack of proper tools for preparing the hard rock did not help and the application of the paint in the end was perhaps a way to embellish the final work. Unfortunately, whether all of this was intentional or not, it did mislead many experts in interpreting this fossil as exceptionally preserved."
