Inside of a Dinosaur Bone

This specimen is from the Judith River Formation along the Milk River in southern Alberta. It is Campanian (Late Cretaceous) in age, which corresponds to about 80 million years old. It is an example of ideal preservation, and shows all the microstructural features typical of most fossil vertebrate bone. Little or no alteration of the hydroxyapatite appears to have occurred, and a significant amount of the pore space is not infilled with minerals and retains its "spongey" texture.