However, during her research a few years ago, Rossi discovered that there were no soft tissues on the rock. Instead, what was believed to be the reptile's body was mostly paint that may have been applied at some point to preserve some of the bones embedded in the rock, she added. The origins of the forgery are unknown, but Rossi hopes to continue her research to find out what animal is actually preserved under the paint.
In a study published last week in the Journal of Paleontology, Rossi and other European researchers revealed their discovery.
“This was completely unexpected,” Rossi, the study's lead author, told The Washington Post. “No one ever thought to suggest that leather could possibly be paint.”
Around 2020, researchers began studying the history of rocks and animals in the Italian Alps. One of the only reptile fossils from that area was discovered about 90 years ago by an engineer, although it is unclear whether he was the one who originally applied the paint. The crocodile on the rock had a slender body, about eight inches long, plus toes and fingers and a small head.
In the middle of the twentieth century, Scientists named the reptiles Ancient Tridentinosaurus. These researchers believe that the soft tissues of the reptiles were covered with varnish or lacquer, materials that scientists had previously used to preserve fossils. The fossil dates back to approximately 280 million years ago because it was found among other rocks from that time period. It was stored in a museum in Padua, Italy, where it remains.
Scientists debated for years which group the reptile T. antiquus belonged to, but eventually settled on the Protorosauria, an extinct group that lived during the Permian.
Rossi said she learned about the fossil while studying geosciences at Sapienza University in Rome around 2010. While researchers have mentioned T. antiquus in studies, Rossi said the technology to safely examine soft tissues only became available in the past decade.
Using microscopes and ultraviolet light, researchers began studying the fossil near the beginning of 2021 in the hope of revealing the reptile's appearance, habitats and relatives.
“We all started this project thinking the fossil was real,” said Rossi, a postdoctoral researcher at Ireland's University College Cork.
But more research suggests there may not be much more to study. The researchers said fossils are usually flat, but the reptile's body was carved into the rock. While fossils typically do not emit colors under ultraviolet light, Rossi said the reptile's body appeared yellow, a color often associated with paint.
After more than a year of examinations, researchers determined that the substance on the body was black bone paint, which is produced from charred animal bones and was used in historical paintings before the twentieth century.
“I was a little sad,” Rossi, 34, said.
While the fossils were misidentified and Forgeries are rare, and this is not the first time scientists have encountered an exaggerated rock.
In 2019, a fossil believed to be of a new spider species, a crayfish, was discovered. In a similar incident, a fossil found in 1999, which scientists believed was from an undiscovered dinosaur species, was later revealed to be a mixture of body parts from two known species.
Rossi does not believe the reptile fossil was intentionally faked. She said that someone may have tried to preserve what was left of an ancient fossil, because there were some salvageable parts.
The researchers discovered six poorly preserved hind limb bones, as well as about a dozen small bony scales called osteoderms, which resemble crocodile scales. They are investigating which animal may have owned those bones, and how old they are.
Rossi still believes they came from a reptile.
“It may be the ancestor of many reptile groups,” Rossi said. “But it would be interesting to not just have a hypothesis, but to actually have a pin that shows exactly where this animal belongs.”
