By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | September 11, 2017 11:40am ET
In a case worthy of Sherlock
Holmes, researchers are trying to figure out exactly when and where in the
world a long-fingered lizard got trapped in the sticky sap of a tree.
Over time, that sap, or tree
resin turned into amber, preserving the lizard's remains, including its
textured skin. This unique lizard-amber block somehow came into the possession
of a man who donated it to the Miller Museum of Geology at Queen's University
in Ontario, Canada, in the 1980s, but the man didn't report the artifact's age
or provenance.
"The man who donated it
died, unfortunately," said Ellen Handyside, an undergraduate student
studying geological engineering at Queen's University, who is leading the
research into the amber-encased lizard. "We are really starting from scratch"
in determining its history, she said. [In
Photos: Amber Preserves Cretaceous Lizards]
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