It’s hard to find fossil skin, but a rare discovery reveals clues about the evolution from water to land

The prehistoric movement of creatures onto land required the skin of prehistoric aquatic animals to adapt. (Shutterstock)

Fossilized skin and other soft tissues are exceedingly rare, and it is only under special conditions that these rarest of fossils are preserved.

Most skin is preserved as impressions in the rock, but under rare conditions and incalculable odds, a 3D fossil of the actual skin can form. These fossils provide an exceptional window into the appearances, evolution and anatomies of prehistoric animals.