Secrets of the Dinosaur Mummy
‘Leonardo’ was found in Montana almost fully intact. Ninety percent of his body is covered in skin. We know what he ate for his last meal. What makes this so impressive? Leonardo is a 77 million year-old dinosaur. With exclusive access to what promises to be an extraordinary development in the history of paleontology, Discovery Channel presents a high-tech exploration deep into the body of a dinosaur that lived 77 million years ago with SECRETS OF THE DINOSAUR MUMMY. The one-hour special premieres Sunday, December 21 at 2100 hrs (9:00 pm SIN/HK), with encores on Monday, December 22 at midnight (12:00 am), 0800 hrs (8:00 am) and 1400 hrs (2:00 pm); and Saturday, December 27 at 1400 hrs (2:00 pm).
Discovered in 2000 by a team of amateur paleontologists exploring Malta, Montana, Leonardo – named for graffiti found near his burial site – is the first dinosaur mummy ever found with the contents of its digestive tract still intact. With this once-in-a-lifetime finding, scientists now have more than just bones to fully reconstruct how dinosaurs looked and lived. From the cause of death to Leonardo’s last meal, scientific tests provide far more detail than the team of scientists ever expected. Skin impressions and actual fossilized samples of the digested food still inside the viscera, plus skin and joints, allow the team to create the first reconstruction of a giant dinosaur, accurate both inside and out.
Leonardo is a young Brachylophosaurus, a four-legged plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur, the very first juvenile of the species discovered with extensive skin. He was approximately three to four years old when he died and would have been 20 feet long, weighing about 2,000 pounds. From high-tech testing of Leonardo’s remains, scientists have positively identified what a plant-eating dinosaur ate – something that has never been done before. Leonardo’s last meal consisted largely of leaves which included ferns, magnolias and conifers. Additional analysis has confirmed at least 40 different types of prehistoric plant pollen preserved in his stomach. Since most dinosaurs were herbivores, this find is an incredibly important step in learning more about the creatures’ lives on the planet.
Another finding that was only possible due to Leonardo’s intact remains is the strong evidence for a crop (find out what a ‘crop’ is in the attached Fact Sheet). Modern plant-eating birds have crops to aid in the digestion process, but there was no evidence of the possibility that dinosaurs may have also had crops until Leonardo was unearthed. This startling discovery has led to new theories of how these creatures lived.
SECRETS OF THE DINOSAUR MUMMY is directed and written by Michael Jorgensen and produced for Discovery Channel by MidCanada Entertainment and Myth Merchant Films. Wayne Sheldon is executive producer and Kevin Dunn is producer for MidCanada Entertainment. Carrie Gour is executive producer and Michael Jorgensen is producer for Myth Merchant films. For Discovery Channel, Paul Gasek is executive producer.
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