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A rare, extremely old skeleton has been found in a Utah national park, reported KTLA. The skeleton, which was found in Canyonlands National Park, could potentially represent a new species.
Paleontologists collected the Permian-aged skeleton in the backcountry of Canyonlands. According to professionals, the skeleton is estimated to be around 290 million years old.
The bones were found in the bottom of a slick rock wash. Because of its location, it was threatened by monsoon rainstorms.
Paleontologists made a 13-mile roundtrip hike to recover the skeleton. The National History Museum of Utah the University of Southern California, and Canyonlands National Park all helped o collect the rare skeleton from the slick rock.
Now, it will be cleaned, prepared, and CT-scanned for additional research. It will eventually be curated as a specimen in the National Park Service's fossil collection. It will be available for museum exhibits and research.
Canyonlands National Park is located in southeast Utah. The Green and Colorado Rivers both cut through the park in three different sections of the park, called Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze.
Click here to learn more about Canyonlands National Park.