A harsh lesson for paleontology: What was believed to be the oldest fossil found in the Alps, attributed to a 280-million-year-old reptile discovered in 1931 in the Italian Alps, has been revealed to be a partial fake.
Long regarded as a valuable Tridentinosaurus antiquus for studying the evolution of early reptiles, this find has been critically re-evaluated by scientists from University College Cork in Ireland.
For decades, the fossil was recognized for its apparent preservation of soft tissues, an extraordinary feature that placed it in the reptile group Protorosauria. However, the rather strange preservation of the fossil has left many experts in doubt as to which group of reptiles the lizard-like specimen belonged to, as well as much unknown about its geological history.
Turns out petrified skin is paint
Recent research, published in the scientific journal Palaeontology, revealed that the body outline of Tridentinosaurus antiquus was created artificially, probably to improve the appearance of the fossil, a hoax that has baffled researchers studying the fossil for decades. What was thought to be petrified skin is nothing more than black paint on the surface of a rock carved into the shape of a lizard.
Preliminary examination using UV photography showed that the specimen was coated with some type of material, which was not unusual as it was common in the past to cover them with lacquers or varnishes to preserve them in museum display cases.
The team hoped that beneath the coating layer, the original soft tissues would still be in good condition so that meaningful paleobiological information could be extracted. But it wasn’t like that.
All is not lost
The research team, which includes collaborators from the University of Padua, the Nature Museum of South Tyrol and the Museo delle Scienze in Trento, urged caution when cataloging the ancient remains.
Despite the disappointment of discovering the forgery, the study does not end with a completely negative verdict.
The researchers found that certain elements of the fossil, such as hind limb bones and small bony scales known as osteoderms, were authentic, albeit poorly preserved.
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