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  "path": "/science/archaeology-breakthrough-dinosaur-fossil-skin-presreved",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-09T20:04:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Cabinet scrambles to support Keir Starmer after Anas Sarwar calls for his resignation",
    "MI5 issues major warning to British universities over threat from China",
    "Nigel Farage says Keir Starmer will be gone by end of the month as he sticks boot in: ‘Game’s up!’",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
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  "textContent": "\n\n\nScientists have unveiled a newly identified dinosaur species from China that offers an extraordinary window into prehistoric biology through remarkably preserved 125-million-year-old skin.\n\nThe creature, named Haolong dongi, represents a juvenile iguanodontian whose fossilised remains retain skin tissue visible at the cellular level.\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nDiscovered in north-eastern China, the specimen provides researchers with unprecedented detail about dinosaur appearance and anatomy.\n\n\"Finding skin preserved at the cellular level in a dinosaur is extraordinary,\" said Pascal Godefroit, senior author of the study and palaeontologist at the Institute of Natural Sciences.\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"It gives us a window into the biology of these animals at a level that we never thought possible.\"\n\nThe species was named to honour Dong Zhiming, a pioneering figure in Chinese palaeontology who died in 2024.\n\n\"This discovery shows that even well-studied groups like iguanodontian dinosaurs can still surprise us,\" said Huang Jiandong, director of the research department at Anhui Geological Museum and lead author of the paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.\n\n\"The complexity of dinosaur skin is far greater than we imagined.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe juvenile dinosaur, nicknamed the \"spiny dragon\", bore distinctive spikes of varying dimensions across its body.\n\nThese spines are features which have never previously been documented in any dinosaur species.\n\nLarge overlapping scales protected its tail, whilst the spikes ranged from tiny 2-3 millimetre protrusions to larger specimens reaching 44 millimetres in length.\n\nAdvanced imaging techniques and histological analysis revealed that these structures were cornified, composed of hardened keratin and preserved down to individual cell nuclei.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Cabinet scrambles to support Keir Starmer after Anas Sarwar calls for his resignation\n  * MI5 issues major warning to British universities over threat from China\n  * Nigel Farage says Keir Starmer will be gone by end of the month as he sticks boot in: ‘Game’s up!’\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe hollow, near-cylindrical spikes differ markedly from both protofeathers found on other dinosaurs and the scaly spines seen in modern lizards, suggesting they evolved independently.\n\nScientists believe the spikes likely served as a defence mechanism against predators, making the young herbivore difficult for smaller meat-eating dinosaurs to swallow – functioning similarly to a porcupine's quills.\n\nThe creature inhabited an environment populated by small carnivorous dinosaurs, where such protection could prove crucial for survival.\n\nResearchers suggest the structures may have offered additional benefits beyond deterrence, potentially helping regulate body temperature in the region's climate..\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe spikes might also have functioned as sensory tools, enabling the animal to detect vibrations in its surroundings much as snakes use bristles today.\n\nLarger spikes could additionally have warned off rivals or attracted potential mates.\n\nHaolong dongi occupies an early position in the evolutionary lineage that eventually gave rise to hadrosaurs, the distinctive duck-billed dinosaurs\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Scientists unearth remarkably well-preserved fossil with dinosaur skin still attached"
}