Famous Alpine fossil turns out to be painted on. 280 million year old reptile of the species Tridentinosaurus antiquus is one of the oldest fossils with preserved soft parts in the Italian Alps.
The fossil from the Permian Age is probably at least partly a fake, experts led by Valentina Rossi from University College Cork in Ireland report in the journal “Palaeontology” But the bones of the reptile's hind legs, especially the thigh bones, are real, albeit poorly preserved.