Dakota (fossil)

[2] Manning's team used a large-scale CT scanner, provided by NASA and the Boeing Company, to generate high-resolution scans of the preserved muscles and tendons of the rear legs.

Because the intervertebral discs which space out the spinal column of the tail have been fossilized, researchers have been able to calculate its length more accurately.

[1] This fossil's examination was the subject of Dino Autopsy, a documentary aired on National Geographic Channel on December 9, 2007.

[2] Stephanie K. Drumheller and team in 2022 proposed that Dakota was exceptionally preserved because of several identified scavenging marks to the carcass, which helped to escape the gases, fluids, and microbes that develop during decomposition.

This may have likely allowed soft tissues to withstand the weeks and/or months required for desiccation prior to burial and eventual fossilization.