In recent news, there has been a dinosaur discovery rocking the paleontologist world. A dinosaur, (dubbed the “nodosaur”) has been discovered that is not a fossil, it is a full fledged “mummy”. This is fantastic news for scientists, as it allows them access to part never fully explored in a dinosaur.

The new “nodosaur” specimen is a well-preserved set of remains of a dinosaur. About 110 million year ago, the dinosaur would have walked the earth. In life, it would have been around 3,000 pounds with large spiky armor protecting it. It was also quadrupedal, with a likely herbivore diet. In its preserved state, the nodosaur still ways a full 2,500 pounds, retains its armor and skin, and has some organs intact.

But how did it stay so well preserved? According to researchers it is likely that the dinosaur was caught in a flood, brought out to the ocean, and drowned. On the ocean floor, minerals then took the place of skin and armor, keeping the dinosaur largely in one piece, and with organic tissue intact. This led to six long years of testing, and preparing the dinosaur for display of the public, culminating in over 7,000 hours of work.

Today, the nodasaur mummy sits at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta, Canada. It is open to visitors and is being hailed as a “chance to see the closest thing to a real-life dinosaur that the world has likely ever seen.