A New Zealand YouTuber discovered a rare dinosaur-era fossil bone encased in rock and uncovers it. It is 80 million years old.

"An Elasmosaurus, part of the plesiosaurus family, is what some suspect the Loch Ness monster to be", says the person who captured the video.

"This animal had up to 76 of these vertebrae as its neck was very, very long! It was swimming around while there were dinosaurs roaming around on the land".

The YouTuber found this plesiosaur vertebra earlier this year. It was almost fully hidden inside the rock and he thought this would be a great candidate to try out some acid prepping using acetic acid.

With regards to the removal process, which took three weeks, the YouTuber says that it's very important to only put the fossil in the vinegar for one hour and then for 12 hours in freshwater, refreshed every three hours, to make sure all the vinegar is leached away before applying a layer of Paraloid B-72 on any exposed bone for the next acid cycle. Paraloid B-72 is a type of plastic that protects the bone surface from acid.

He used an air scribe to remove the rock to within 1mm of the bone and then the vinegar to remove the rest so as not to damage the bone surface.

The fossil hunter got in touch with his local museum and will donate it to their collection.

A New Zealand YouTuber discovered a rare dinosaur-era fossil bone encased in rock and uncovers it. It is 80-million years old.

"An Elasmosaurus, part of the plesiosaurus family, is what some suspect the Loch Ness monster to be", says the person who captured the video.

"This animal had up to 76 of these vertebrae as its neck was very, very long! It was swimming around while there were dinosaurs roaming around on the land".

The YouTuber found this plesiosaur vertebra earlier this year. It was almost fully hidden inside the rock and he thought this would be a great candidate to try out some acid prepping using acetic acid.

With regards to the removal process, which took three weeks, the YouTuber says that it's very important to only put the fossil in the vinegar for one hour and then for 12 hours in freshwater, refreshed every three hours, to make sure all the vinegar is leached away before applying a layer of Paraloid B-72 on any exposed bone for the next acid cycle. Paraloid B-72 is a type of plastic that protects the bone surface from acid.

He used an air scribe to remove the rock to within 1mm of the bone and then the vinegar to remove the rest so as not to damage the bone surface.

The fossil hunter got in touch with his local museum and will donate it to their collection.


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