‘Rare reptile skeleton’ going back 290 million years found in the US

Experts say a fossil found in southeast Utah’s Canyonlands National Park in the US is “a rare ~290 million year old Permian-aged skeleton” and likely belonged to a “type of early reptile relative.”

According to the National Park Service, “The most devastating incidence of mass extinction in Earth’s history marked the end of the Permian Period [298.9 million years ago–251.9 million years ago].”

Speaking to the Charlotte Observer, Adam Marsh, lead paleontologist at Petrified Forest National Park in neighboring Arizona, said “It’s roughly the size of an iguana and (the fossil) preserves at least the vertebrae, top of the skull, and some of the shoulder girdle and forelimb.” Marsh added “We’re preparing the fossil at Petrified Forest and it will eventually get CT scanned in the next year.”

Officials said the fossil was “discovered sticking out of Cedar Mesa Sandstone at the bottom of a rock gully — or ‘slickrock wash’ — in Utah’s high desert, the Charlotte Observer reported. It was not near any roads, officials said.

The Petrified Forest National Park Facebook page announced that in late October, “PEFO paleontologists were part of a team with the Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Southern California, and Canyonlands National Park that collected a rare ~290 million year old Permian-aged skeleton in the backcountry of Canyonlands, potentially representing a new species.”

“The specimen was in the bottom of a slickrock wash and was threatened by erosion with every monsoon rainstorm that flashed the canyon. The team held a permit to collect the fossil and determine its place within the Cedar Mesa Sandstone at CANY to estimate its geologic age and context.”

The specimen was collected by a team that made a 13-mile round trip into the background, officials said. According to the Charlotte Observer, the stone that encased the fossil was extracted in two large chunks “using a concrete saw, hammer, and chisels,” Marsh said.

Calling the hike “a great success and a great example of collaboration,” PEFO officials said “The specimen will be cleaned and prepared at PEFO and CT scanned for further research, ultimately to be curated as a specimen in NPS fossil collections to be available for museum exhibits and scientific research.”

“This is an incredibly rare specimen from the Pennsylvanian/Permian of Utah, where any kind of fossil is important, much less an articulated skeleton,” Marsh said.

“It really goes to show what kind of fossil resources are hidden in our National Parks waiting to be discovered and shared with the public.”

THUMBNAIL PHOTO: The reptile fossil found in the Canyonlands National Park was dated back to the Permian Age.

HEADLINE PHOTO: Scientists got a permit to remove the fossil in two chunks so that it wouldn’t be damaged by inclement weather and erosion.