the outside of the jackson school building

UT Researchers Solve Mystery of Prehistoric Fossil in Chile

  • Jun 25, 2020

Researchers at the Jackson School of Geosciences have helped crack the code to one of the most confounding fossils housed by Chile’s National Museum of Natural History.  

Referred to simply as “The Thing” for years, the large, lumpy object was found on the Antarctic Peninsula’s ocean floor. New analysis led by UT researchers shows the mysterious item is likely a deflated soft-shelled egg from a large sea reptile. Their findings were published this week in science journal Nature.   

It is the first fossil egg found in Antarctica and provides immense new insight into many ancient sea-dwelling creatures previously thought not to lay eggs.  

Read the full article on UT News.  

Related News