ExtinctZoo - Prehistoric Animals Preserved So Well They Look Like Roadkill

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

You ever day dream of what it would be like to travel back in time and see exactly what prehistoric animals looked like? Well me too, and unfortunately I doubt that will happen, BUT we do have some pretty darn amazing specimens that have helped bring the past to us.

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to fill in the missing pieces is some guesswork and a smidge of imagination, something which was used quite a bit in the early days. But to be honest, really, any time badly preserved and highly fragmented remains are found, it requires a lot of filling in the blanks. However, once in a while, scientists will come across the specimens so complete, sell while preserved, that there really isn't much guessing left for them to do. It's just all there. And to me, these kind of specimens represent just about as close to time travels we can get,

giving us an amazing sense for what these prehistoric animals look like. And I always find that the older the specimen, the more wondrous it is, is it essentially unlocks a glimpse into a time in Earth's history that was once thought inaccessible. And a pretty good example of this has to do with the troglodyte, uh, I mean, trilobite. You've probably heard of these guys at least once before, or at least should have, as they used to be among the most successful early life on the planet, being a form of arthropod that yielded at least 22,000 known species. So in other words, more species than freaking birds.

And thanks to this diversity, trilobites greatly differed in sizes, location of residence, and traits, with some having been predators, other scavengers, others filter feeders, and even some others who were planktivores. And it's believed that this group first appeared during the early Cambrian period about 521 million years ago, which also makes them closer to a billion years old than zero, which is pretty crazy. And back then, not even a map of the world would have shared any similarities with the present. So, it's kind of remarkable that we even know that trilobites existed, and yet, At the same time, we do not only know this, but also what some of them looked like exactly, as one remarkable discovery from Morocco revealed a trove of trilobites that might as well have died yesterday,

not half a billion years ago. Now, I am sure many of you are familiar with the story of Pompeii, a tragic event where a volcanic eruption devastated and buried the Roman city of, well, Pompeii, which not only killed thousands, but also, quote unquote, nicely preserved, some of the more unfortunate victims that were encapsulated in a pyroclastic floor. And this story is relevant because it's believed that 500 million years ago something pretty much identical occurred, as along the coast of Morocco, a giant volcano violently erupted, sending molten lava and heated gas surging into the surrounding ocean, whereupon it interrupted

a group of trilobites, just minding their own business. And, uh, interrupting is really the understatement of the century, as they got hit so hard, so fast, by the volcanic material, that they essentially became frozen in time, retaining the impression of their soft tissue and being preserved in full three. 3D, which is an extreme rarity among trilobites, who are usually preserved flat and smushed. Thus, this 3D element has basically given us models of trilobites that we can touch, feel, and look up and down, whereas 2D specimens are admittedly a bit less immersive. Additionally, the flow that smacked these trilobites did so with so much force that it literally

shoved hot piping volcanic sludge down their throats. Unpleasant, to say the least, but rather beneficial for us, as what this did was completely sketch their digestive tracts, which is the first for this group, and even led to the discovery of brand-new trilobite features, including a labrum attached to a hypostome, a slit-like mouth, and a pair of specialized appendages, which were positioned right next to the trilobites' mouth, probably being designed to have aided and moving food into their waiting orifices. And in another first, it wasn't just the trilobites that were preserved by the volcano, but also what was on their shells, seeing that tiny animals, specifically Cambrian brachio pods,

were found attached on their outer surfaces and legs by using their own soft tissue stocks to root themselves into the trilobites. So, a pretty neat find overall, and the feats of trilobites don't even end here, as we had plenty of other amazing fossils that come from them. Notably, two specimens belonging to the species, triarthris, aatonki, who were found not only 100% complete, but also in pristine state, thanks to their unique burial conditions. You see, this type of trilobite existed during the Upper Ordovician and lived in various different locations, but in Beecher's trilobite bed of New York, they experienced life or death a bit differently than others of their kind,

as here ancient mud flows are frequent that were highly rich in iron pyrite. And as it so happens, this stuff is pretty good for preservation, and thus leading to our two perfectly preserved specimens. Pretty metal, and I mean that literally, no pun intended. And thanks to this quote-unquote solution, not only are the two trilobites fully complete, but it is also preserved their gills, antennae, eggs, digestive systems, and their life. legs in walking position, all finds that alone would be extremely rare, let alone finding them altogether, which is simply mind-blowing. It does probably also help by the sheer fact of how many different species of trilobites, and hence trilobites in general, existed throughout the years.

However, with that said, you don't need 20,000-plus species to produce some amazing specimens. I mean, just ask the Lestrosaurus, an animal that gets crazier and crazier, the more I research it. These little to medium-sized isonidants were once Earth's most successful. creatures and a rather unlikely ruler of early Triassic Pangaea. Now, they sure as heck weren't as tribalites, but they did have a respectable range across the globe and were quite capable creatures. With this being so nicely demonstrated by, the fact that in certain locations, they accounted for over 95% of all life, something we usually don't see. In fact, it's never been seen before or since. Yet, as it turns out, this is just one interesting tidbit about Lestrosaurus, as they're

seemingly great at fossilizing as well. Because as of now, it is a Listerosaurus individual that holds the title for the oldest mummy of all time, and the competition isn't even close. In 2022, researchers stumbled upon a Listerosaurus body unlike anything they've seen before, which dated back to 250 million years ago, but it was remarkably well reserved. I mean, I've seen roadkill in worse shape, and this discovery was made in the southern Karoo Basin of South Africa, which today is a semi-eared desert. So not pleasant, but a lush paradise compared to how it was during the early

Triassic, with sweltering temps and extreme droughts being very common realities at this point. And it's thought that our specimen in question actually exists thanks to these harsh conditions, with the current hypothesis being that the unfortunate Dysenodont was caught out during a severe drought, which caused it to die, wither, and then taking a page from the Egyptians to mummify. And it was this process that allowed for not only the wrapping, but also the texture of its skin to be preserved, despite, of course, the immense age of the actual specimen. And this also helped reveal some pretty interesting things, namely that despite being neither a reptile nor mammal, the Listerouser's skin more like the height of a rhino or hippo, rather than the scales of dinosaurs or reptiles,

with other observations being that Listeroussores were so hairless and dimpled. And just when you thought this find couldn't be any more special, it turns out that this specimen was not alone. As around it, the team discovered seven more additional bodies, all of which were in great shape, with one of the others, even being a mummy as well. And the fact they died together as a group has also led to its own revelation, which is while Lestrosaurus clearly survived the Pyramid extinction event and became the Earth's most successful animal, of all time, things were by no means easy for them, with these droughts likely being major causes of die-off amongst the genus, with some even attributing the conditions of the early Triassic

to their eventual downfall. Now, these mummies, plus the trilobites I talked about, are often considered ultra-preserved, because among other things, they've retained most, if not all, of their entire bodies. Although, with that said, you don't need to have everything to count as well preserved. Sometimes all you need is just one piece of you to age well, very well, which is perhaps best demonstrated by what I would consider to be the craziest pli-sword discovery yet, and a specimen which really drives home just how scary some pre-storic animals were. Can you think of a place where such a crazy animal might be unearthed?

Well, if you're thinking Australia, that's a good guess, but you're wrong, because this discovery was actually made in the UK, not perhaps a place you'd expect. As today, the island is known for its typically cold, rainy weather and a distinct lack of scary animals, well, not including humans, that is. But millions of years ago, during the Jurassic period, it couldn't have been more of the opposite, with tropical lush islands being the name of the game, while warm, shallow seas surrounded them, birthing untold amounts of life, including, unspeakable predators of the giant hypercarnivorous pliosaurs, who in that time reigned supreme. And in 2022, a remarkable discovery reminded us just of that fact and of its power, as the team uncovered a massive skull from quite the unusual location, as it was suspended in the face of a cliff. And could you imagine seeing that when peeking over the edge, almost scared than the heights itself? And this skull, of course, belonged to none other than a pliosaur, which was a very easy

thing for the researchers to tell, as the head was immaculate, being so well preserved that is touted not only as the best preserved skull of a plesosaur, but also that of any marine reptile from this period. It also comes in at a whopping two meters or six feet long, making it also one of the longest pliosaur skulls ever found, and the individual belonged to likely would have been more than 10 meters or 33 feet long, and weighed multiple tons. Now, the entire head was there, and complete, but what was really striking to the paleontologist and the rest of world were its teeth, which I think are better just referred to as chewing knives, because despite being 150 million years old, they are so well preserved that you could still

easily slice your hand on them. And you can also clearly make out multiple of their features, including distinct serrations, cutting edges, and grooves, which allowed the pliosaurus to kill in a pretty gruesome way, as those ridges on the grooves were actually designed to unstick the teeth after they had sunk it into flesh, which also means that it wasn't limited to one devastating bite, but rather multiple devastating fast attacks that incurred catastrophic blood loss, limb removal, and a death. So certainly a dire situation for its prey, which would not have been helped by the fact that tests in this skull revealed a bite force that was two times greater than that of a large

saltwater crocodile. Yeah, ouch. And even looking past the teeth, we can see more amazing preservation that demonstrates the pli-source ethylety, namely that a CT scan revealed that sensory pits remained intact, showcasing that they would have been connected to a multitude of vessels or nerves in life, that would have let the pliosaur detect pressure changes in the water, and helpful to it whilst tracking down animals in muddy and murky areas. But keep your fingers crossed, because while we do remain waiting right now,

scientists who worked on the site are adamant that the rest of the pliosaur skeleton is still somewhere in that cliff as well. So yeah, my fingers are basically about a lose blood flow at this point. Okay, so far I've told you about specific specimens. But what if I told you there is a whole freaking sight which is famous precisely because everything in it is so well preserved. Let me introduce you to Loggerstaten. Try spelling that. Now, this isn't the name of some fall. You said this place was steps from the water.

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an app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed-sponsored jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills,

certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75-sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. The fossil formation, but rather a type of sedimentary deposit that is unusual for its high level preservation, thought to be caused by certain areas having been anoxic. And thus,

there would have been minimal bacteria, which meant less decaying of dead animals. And so far, across the world, numerous loggerstaffed formations are known, and they span nearly every geological period. However, amongst the legions, there is one that sticks out the most, and is arguably the most famous, plus impressive. For it's among the oldest known Lagerstaten, and still beats even the youngest when it comes to quality, made all the more crazy by the fact that most of it is soft-tissued organisms. This is the Burgess Shale, from the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia. Like the trilobites earlier, this place represents Earth over half a billion years ago, 5008 million, to be precise. And unlike any other Lagerstotten, its preservatives, it's preservatives,

conservation style is so unique that it even has its own name, Burgess-type deposit, and it has the highest propensity for soft-bodied organisms to be preserved that we know of, including many of the Cambrian's most funky creations, almost making this place feel more like a portal to an alien planet than a trip to the past. With some of the more cool specimens including the first complete, the nominal ocarus, a nice imprint of the strange panarthropata, a lucidgenia, and a pristine otoya, a strange enigmatic worm-like creature that kind of seems like it came straight out of a horror movie, with the level of its preservation allowing us to be uncomfortably familiar with how it would have looked like. As in the shale, it's even retained the circular indent all around the body, as well as its

unsettling probosis, plus fuzzy head. But when I say fuzzy, I don't mean hair, more like fuzzy flesh-like protrusions. Yum. Now these are the most well-known specimens, but of course there were other finds too, and the list is very long, so I selected some of the more impressive ones, in my opinion, which consists of the worm-like, a misquyme. Eschwea and its fins, gut trace and full body, and then we have the full body that armored slug-like, wewaxia, as well as the worm-like precursor of arthropods, Ayeshaia, with its

limbs and gut trace. Moving down the line, we also see a bivalped arthropod and its pincers, the primitive arthropod, burgessia, along with the outline of its actual stomach that was kidney-shaped, and the Stanley Carus, who in one case had its whole head and brain. Yeah, brain. So suffice to say, this is a pretty cool place. take a long time to touch on everything that's been found. So just take note that across the many specimens and creatures, it's routine for researchers to find fossilized exoskeletons,

outlines of muscles, and growths, plus the actual gut contents of the creatures. Truly amazing stuff, with often the best preserved Cambrian discoveries actually coming from here. However, Lagerstaten isn't the only kind of fossilization that tends to hold up well, with another process coming straight from the pages of Jurassic Park. And I'm talking about Amber, of course. It has given us some remarkable specimens, including an ancient flea with a plague still inside it, a Cretaceous spider caught mid-attack on a wasp, a whole freaking salamander, and what are undoubtedly the best preserved arthropods ever, which date to 230 million years ago during the Triassic. But as cool as these are, I don't think they out-cooled another immense example of amber

preservation that 100% deserves a shout-out of its own, as to me it represents the full power of amber, as well as my childhood Jurassic Park dreams. And this fossil is a contender for the best preserved dinosaur ever, as I'm talking about a dino that got stuck in tree goop. Now, dinosaurs as a whole aren't probably what you'd expect to find trapped in amber, rather the mosquitoes that bit them, am I right? And yet, one unfortunate dinosaur was very much trapped inside it, or rather, a piece of it. As in 2015, an amber collector found a strange piece within a mine that seemed to him to contain a plant inside.

And so he polished the specimen to jewelry level and then took it off to a market to be sold. But, and thankfully, before he, he said, he was used to be sold. he got there, he decided to have a scientist take one last peek at it, given its strange nature. And what a great decision that was. As after analysis, it was determined not to be planet material, but rather animal material, and dinosaur at that. Now, this was obviously big news, because it's not every day you find ancient life in amber, let alone an ancient dinosaur. And this is arguably the best preserved piece of dinosaur ever, seeing that the bones, muscle, skin, and of course the feathers, were all preserved nigh exactly as they would be in life.

which again is seriously impressive considering that the dinosaur in question is believed to have been about 99 million years old. And get this, the owner of the fossil? Not an avian dinosaur. In other words, not a bird, but rather a non-avian theropod, just like the T-Rex, which in this case is believed to be a solarosaur, to be exact. In other words, while we don't know the exact specifics, we do know that it was a part of the clade which contained all theropods more close related to birds than carnosaurs. And we know it definitely wasn't a bird because the vertebrae the tail were not fused into a rod or piga style, as it is seen in modern-day birds. And because of this, the tail turned out to be highly flexible and long, while keels of feathers

run down along both sides of it. Miraculously, another observation was made as well, which was, about the color, as that too, have been preserved, with it having been chestnut brown on top and white on the bottom. And along with the fact that all the meaty parts are preserved, it basically means that you're looking at a real dinosaur tail in all of its glory. So, now you can say that. And maybe you could have said that before if you see my other video in Amber, in which I talked about this as well.

Another crazy thing about this specimen was that even the quote unquote liquid, or what had been the liquid, was still inside the dinosaur. And studies on reveal the presence of Ferris Iron, meaning we got dino blood. Though don't get your hopes too high, because on the molecular level, the sample really ain't worth much as far as drastic parking the creature goes. But it is an important find as it implies that the dinosaur was probably still alive when it got trapped by Amber, making this also the first and only known case of non-avian dino death by Amber. What a way to go. Now, you may be asking yourself, how does a dino get stuck in the first place? And the answer to that has to do with its size, is this allurosaur was definitely a little guy,

being a juvenile, and it's estimated been no bigger than a modern-day sparrow. Funny how small things can change the world. And eventually, paleontologists even learned something new about the evolution of birds thanks to this specimen, as its feathers lacked a shaft, known as the wrackus, which is found in modern avians. They did possess barbs, meaning that barbs evolved before the Rackus did. Neat stuff. And if you want to learn more about crazy dinosaur specimens,

I suggest you check out my video where I did a whole segment on dinosaur mummies, which are pretty gnarly themselves. Anyways, it's pretty obvious that Amber is remarkable preserving things, as was Lagerstatin. But in some ways, they are both actually beaten by something that does have an unfair advantage, permafrost. This is essentially soil or any underground sediment that has been below freezing for at least two years. Now, two years isn't exactly ancient, but some of this stuff can be much, much older,

with the oldest known permafrost being about 700,000 years old. And in the older frost, scientists have hauled up some pretty crazy things, including the best preserved specimens from the Ice Age. And what from this period was the most iconic animal? Well, you should be saying the woolly mammoth. And thus it should come as no surprise that is from the permafrost that the best preserved mammothed, a specimen dubbed Yucca. Now, before I get into this, let me just clarify something, as you might think I'm starting

to stray from the whole fossilized business. But keep in mind, a fossil is any trace of prehistoric life that is over 10,000 years old. And thankfully, Yuka passes this requirement of flying colors, as after it was discovered in Siberia in 2010, it was deduced to have been a 39,000-year-old juvenile, placing it in the Upper Paleolithic. But based off appearances alone, it could have come from just a few hundred years ago, or even less, because Yuka was an amazing. condition, having been mummified by the freezing permafrost that ended up preserving

your entire body, fur, and all. And because of this, we now even have things like a scan of her actual brain, which confirmed that mammoths had typical elephant-day structure, but in Yucca's case, lost about 55% of its original volume through the mummification process. And obviously, it's not every day you get your hands on a mammoth brain, and as of now, it's the only intact one ever located. And due to how well Yuka held, we also know that mammoth calves were a blondeish red in color, and researchers were even able to extract blood from her body, which was, by the way, liquid.

Liquid. Another first in mammoth history. Now, blood alone is crazy, but what scientists did to other sampled cells was truly the true crazy. As in one experiment, a team managed to stimulate her nuclei to perform certain biological activity, which is insane, and honestly gives me some flashbacks to Jurassic Park. However, not everything about this specimen is so grand, as there are elements of tragedy, as Yuka was in fact pretty much a baby at the time of her death, being perhaps no older than six years old. Which thus leads to the question of what exactly happened to her.

Originally, based off of some marks and cuts, it was not that lions, and yes, Siberia had lions at one point, attacked and killed her, but left the carcass due to freezing conditions. And then this idea was later switched out for humans instead of lions. But now, it's actually believed that violence didn't get her, rather just old mother nature, who was especially harsh during the Ice Age. Specifically, while crossing a swamp, we think that Yuka became trapped in the mud and drowned. Wherein the cold temperatures of the water and the frozen surroundings ended up mummifying her, and thus unknowingly creating a one-of-a-kind specimen.

Now, with this all said, while Yuka may be the best-preserved mammoth of all time, she doesn't keep the title when it comes to the Ice Age in general, and ironically, the best-preserved Ice Age animal happens to be even older, dating back to 42,000 years ago. But once again, this story takes place in Siberia, where in 2018, a team of mammoth, hunters were excavating parts of the Bodegica crater, the largest permafrost crater on the entire planet. And while spraying down some mud along its banks, a hunter started to notice something poking out. And given the large amounts of specimens from this area, it was immediately thought to be

a piece of an ice-age animal. But what they did not expect was for this, set piece, to really be an entire freaking horse. That was 100% complete. I'm talking about hooves, fur, and even eyes, all included despite it being over 40,000 years old. And the inside of this horse was arguably even more impressive, as after cutting it open, they discover not only its digestive track in perfect condition, but once again, liquid blood, which, given the age of the horse, makes it the oldest liquid blood ever discovered. And, uh, along with some red, they also found some yellow, if you get my drift, with liquid urine also being extracted. Another record in the age department. And what scientists are able to do with these liquids, more so the blood, is arguably even more impressive than the experiments

ran on Yucca, for they weren't just able to extract DNA, but literally grow tissue from the horse's cell. A step towards bringing this animal back to life, according to the team. And the team has also stated that given its preservation, they will try to clone the creature, albeit admitting that it is still a long shot. Because in case you didn't know, bringing back extinct animals is a bit trickier than one might think. And yes, I did say extinct. As though this was a horse, this is not the kind you can find anymore, with the specimen belonging to Elena horse or Aquaslynensis, a species that once roamed large parts of Siberia, from the late Pleistocene, all the way to the recent Holocene, with the youngest specimens being about 5,000 years old.

And on average, they were smaller than your typical horse, but they did possess unusually muscular and stocky builds that helped protect them from the brutal cold in the places they lived, with some estimates even stating that temperatures could have dropped up to minus 70 degrees Celsius or minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. So, uh, in other words, cold enough to freeze the surface of your eye, if kept open, within one minute. Pretty cool. And yes, pun intended. Which also makes it pretty amazing that such a fun-sized and cute-looking creature could be so freaking darn tough. But that's evolution for you. And it's also pretty amazing that we have such well-preserved specimens, such as this horse and all the others, that I just talked about. And I can only hope that in the

future, there will be even more discoveries, and thus more to talk about. Thanks for watching, and until next time on Extinction. If we find anything suspicious, like new loans or changes to your financial accounts, we alert you right away, all through text, phone, email, or the LifeLock app. Get the alerts that could make all the difference. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com slash special offer. Terms apply.