Final moments of dinosaur and mammal's epic 'mortal combat' battle preserved by volcanic eruption

An artist's interpretation of what the battle between the mammal Repenomamus robustus and dinosaur Psittacosaurus may have looked like before both were killed and preserved by a volcanic eruption. (Image credit: Michael Skrepnick)

A small badger-like mammal and a young bipedal dinosaur were locked in "mortal combat" around 125 million years ago before being entombed by a sudden volcanic eruption, creating a stunning fossil that perfectly preserves their fight to the death. 

The epic fossil was unearthed from the Liujitun fossil beds in China’s Liaoning Province in 2012. The area has been dubbed "China’s dinosaur Pompeii" because volcanic mudflows during the mid-Mesozoic era rapidly covered the area and perfectly preserved the unfortunate creatures in its path.