A broken rib from the world’s largest T. rex hid a 66-million-year-old secret

A fractured rib from Scotty, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, is giving researchers a rare look at dinosaur biology from 66 million years ago. Preserved inside the bone is something almost never found in the fossil record: evidence of an injury that was still healing when the animal died.

Scientists used neutron imaging at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to examine the fossil from the inside. The technology allowed them to construct detailed 3D images without damaging the preserved soft tissue.

"It's like winning the lottery," said Mauricio Barbi, professor of physics at the University of Regina (U of R) in Saskatchewan, Canada. "Scotty's rib contains a vast network of mineralized blood vessels that has never before been observed in a fossil."

Fossilized Blood Vessels Preserve a Rare Moment