By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have unearthed a spooky pair of dinosaur mummies that seem to have been preserved in an unexpected way.

These dinosaur remains are different from the wrapped mummies of Egypt or natural human mummies that get accidentally preserved in bogs or deserts. Mummified dinosaurs are so old that their skin and soft tissues fossilize. Scientists use these rare remnants, along with dinosaur bones, to recreate what these prehistoric creatures may have looked like.

Scientists have been uncovering dinosaur mummies for over a century. Some were buried quickly after dying, while others sank into bodies of water or dried out.

This image provided by the University of Chicago shows impressions of a mummified dinosaur’s foot. (Tyler Keillor/The University of Chicago via AP)

Many of them — including a duck-billed dinosaur mummy discovered in 1908 — hail from an area in eastern Wyoming. In the new study, scientists returned to this so-called mummy zone and found new remains, including the mummy of a duck-billed dinosaur that was only a few years old when it died.

“This is the first juvenile of a dinosaur that really is mummified,” said Paul Sereno, a University of Chicago paleontologist who was involved in the discovery.

Surprisingly, the new mummies seem to have been preserved without any evidence of fossilized skin. Instead, they left impressions of their skin and scales on a thin layer of clay that hardened with help from microbes.

This image provided by the University of Chicago shows the scaly skin of a young mummified dinosaur found in Wyoming. (Tyler Keillor/University of Chicago via AP)

This style of mummification has preserved other organisms before, but scientists didn’t think it could happen on land. It’s possible that other mummies found at the Wyoming site could have formed in a similar way, Sereno said.

Scientists used these clay templates to paint a clearer picture of what the duck-billed dinosaurs might have looked like when they were alive, including spikes on their tail and hooves on their feet. The new findings were published Thursday in the journal Science.

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Understanding how dinosaur mummies form can help scientists uncover more of them. It’s important to look not just for dinosaur bones, but also for skin and soft tissue impressions that could go unstudied or even picked away, said Mateusz Wosik, a Misericordia University paleontologist who wasn’t involved with the discovery.

More mummies offer more insights into how these creatures grew and lived.

“Every single time we find one, there’s such a treasure trove of information about these animals,” said Stephanie Drumheller, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who wasn’t part of the study.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By CHRISTINA LARSON, Associated Press

Scientists have long debated whether dinosaurs were in decline before an asteroid smacked the Earth 66 million years ago, causing mass extinction.

New research suggests dinosaur populations were still thriving in North America before the asteroid strike, but it’s only one piece of the global picture, independent experts say.

“Dinosaurs were quite diverse and now we know there were quite distinct communities” roaming around before being abruptly wiped out, said Daniel Peppe, a study co-author and paleontologist at Baylor University.

In this photo provided by researchers, Caitlin Leslie collects paleomagnetic samples in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico in May 2016. (Daniel J. Peppe via AP)

The latest evidence comes from analyzing a portion of the Kirtland Formation in northern New Mexico that’s been known for around 100 years to contain several interesting dinosaur fossils.

Scientists now say those fossils and the surrounding rocks date from around 400,000 years before the asteroid struck, which is considered a short interval in geologic time. The age was determined by analyzing small particles of volcanic glass within sandstone and by studying the direction of magnetic minerals within mudstone of the rock formation.

The results show “the animals deposited here must have been living close to the end of the Cretaceous,” the last dinosaur era, said Peppe.

In this photo provided by researchers, Daniel Peppe, Utanah Denetclaw, Anne Weil and Blake Gorman collect paleomagnetic samples in the De-Na-Zin Wilderness area of the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico in May 2011. (Steven L. Brusatte via AP)

The findings were published Thursday in the journal Science.

Differences between the dinosaur species found in New Mexico and those found at a site in Montana that were previously dated to the same time frame “run counter to the idea that dinosaurs were in decline,” he said.

The fossils previously found at the New Mexico site include Tyrannosaurus rex, a huge, long-necked dinosaur, and a Triceratops-like horned herbivore.

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Scientists who weren’t involved in the study cautioned that evidence found at a single location might not point to a broader trend.

“This new evidence about these very late-surviving dinosaurs in New Mexico is very exciting,” said University of Bristol paleontologist Mike Benton, who was not involved in the study. But he added, “This is just one location, not a representation of the complexity of dinosaur faunas at the time all over North America or all over the world.”

Although scientists have found dinosaur fossils on every continent, accurately dating them can be a challenge, said paleontologist and study co-author Andrew Flynn of New Mexico State University. Easily datable material such as carbon doesn’t survive in fossils, so scientists must look for surrounding rocks with precise characteristics that can be used to determine ages.

Further research might help complete the picture of what range of dinosaur species was alive globally on the eve of the asteroid crash, said Flynn.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday he will run for reelection next year, seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term.

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“I’m turning 80, but you can be sure I have the same energy I had when I was 30. And I’m going to run for a fourth term in Brazil,” Lula told reporters during his official visit to Indonesia.

The Brazilian leader is traveling across Asia. After his visit to Indonesia, where he met with President Prabowo Subianto, Lula will head to Malaysia to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

Brazilian media reported that he is expected to meet for the first time with U.S. President Donald Trump in Malaysia on Sunday, following a conciliatory phone call earlier this month. The two leaders are expected to discuss the 50% trade tariff Trump imposed on Brazil.

Brazil’s constitution allows presidents to serve only two consecutive terms. Lula returned to office in 2023 after 13 years out of power and remains eligible to run again.

Before defeating Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 to win a third nonconsecutive term, Lula had said that would be his final campaign both because of his age and because he believed the country needed political renewal. But early in his current term, he began hinting that he might run again.

In February 2023, the president said he could seek reelection in 2026, adding that his decision would depend on the country’s political context and his health.

A dominant figure on Brazil’s left, Lula is the country’s longest-serving president since its return to democracy 40 years ago.

Some Brazilian politicians have expressed concern about Lula’s age and recent health issues. He underwent emergency surgery to treat a brain bleed late last year after a fall in the bathroom. Still, Lula frequently insists he remains healthy and energetic, often sharing workout videos on social media.

Lula currently leads all polls for the 2026 election, though roughly half of voters say they disapprove of him. Trump’s tariffs re-energized the Brazilian leader and pushed his popularity up.

His main political rival, Bolsonaro, has been barred from running for office and sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup. While no strong opposition candidate has yet emerged, analysts say a viable contender is likely to depend on Bolsonaro’s backing as he serves his sentence under house arrest.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and R.J. RICO

NEW YORK (AP) — Just days after a stunning heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, speculation is growing around where the lavish, stolen jewels that once adorned France’s royals might end up.

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A handful of experts warn that the artifacts valued at more than $100 million (88 million euros) could soon — if not already — be melted or broken into parts. If done successfully, some say those smaller pieces could later go up for sale as part of a new necklace, earrings or other jewelry, without turning too many heads.

“You don’t even have to put them on a black market, you just put them in a jewelry store,” said Erin Thompson, an art crime professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “It could be sold down the street from the Louvre.”

Thompson and others say that this has become increasingly common with stolen jeweled and metal goods, noting that it’s a way thieves can try to cover their tracks and make money. It’s not like someone could publicly wear one of France’s Crown Jewels stolen on Sunday — and finding a market to sell the full artifacts would be incredibly difficult after “everyone and their sister” has seen photos of them over the last week, said Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International.

The jewels may be hard to monetize

“By breaking them apart, they will hide their theft,” Marinello said, adding that these items could become even more “traceless” if they’re taken out of France and through jewel cutters and robust supply chains in other countries.

Still, such pieces are often sold for a fraction of the value of what was stolen — due to their smaller size, but also because melting or breaking down high-profile items removes the historical worth.

It isn’t a simple process.

“The real art in an art heist isn’t the stealing, it’s the selling,” explained Robert Wittman, former senior investigator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s art crime team. Wittman, who has since formed his own private practice, said that the individuals behind such heists are typically “better criminals or thieves than they are businessmen.”

Unlike others, Wittman is skeptical about Sunday’s thieves successfully monetizing the artifacts they stole from the Louvre — which include an emerald necklace and earrings, two crowns, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and a single earring worn by 19th-century royals. He notes the gems may still be identifiable by their clarity, for example, and gold that was refined when the pieces were made hundreds of years ago is not as pure as what’s typically in demand today.

Visitors walk in the lobby of the Louvre museum three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

“Because of what they are, there’s really no point destroying them,” Wittman said, while pointing to the risks of selling such high-profile stolen goods.

Scott Guginsky, executive vice president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, a nonprofit trade association focused on preventing jewelry crime, also notes the age and quality of the artifacts’ diamonds. He suspects they’re probably not graded.

“It’s not something that you can move on the open market. It’s nothing that can go through an auction house,” said Guginsky, who used to run the New York Police Department’s organized theft squad.

Given the amount of preparation that the thieves likely put into this, Guginsky believes they have a plan for selling the jewels, even if they might first decide to “sit on” the jewelry and wait out suspicion.

“I can’t see them stealing it without having an idea what they want to do,” he said. “There’s always a person willing to buy stolen jewelry. No matter what it is, somebody will buy it.”

Sara Yood, CEO and general counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, notes most jewelry businesses implement anti-money laundering programs and look out for red flags like unusual orders, repeated purchases and requests for secrecy.

Still, she and others say the age of some jewels — if broken down effectively — could actually make it harder to track. Newer gemstones, for example, sometimes carry a laser inscription inside that can be evaluated in a lab. But “because these are historical pieces, it’s rather unlikely that it has those identifying features,” noted Yood.

Experts like Thompson say bigger gems can be recut to a point that they’re unrecognizable. A challenge is finding people who have the skill to do that and don’t ask too many questions — but it’s possible, she said.

Whether the people behind Sunday’s heist had those contacts or certain buyers lined up is unknown. But it’s important to also note that “the guys who actually enter the museums are usually all hired hands, and they’re almost always caught in these cases,” Thompson added.

Chances of recovery look dim

She and others say that museums have increasingly faced a rash of similar thefts over recent years. Thompson notes that stealing from storage can go undetected for longer: the British Museum in London, which has accused a former curator of stealing artifacts and selling them online, is still trying to recover some of the 2,000 items stolen.

Some past thieves have made ransom demands for stolen artwork overall, or wait for a potential “no questions asked” reward from an insurance company — which can amount to about a 10% cut for some insured pieces in Europe, Thompson says. The jewels stolen from the Louvre Sunday, however, were reportedly not privately insured.

Sometimes government offers of a reward for information about a high-profile heist can also quicken the investigation, although the French government has yet to publicize such an incentive. If that changes, or promising leads are uncovered from the evidence left behind at the Louvre, experts like Wittman note it could increase the chances of recovering the artifacts.

Still, as more time passes, others feel that the fate of finding the historic jewels looks dim.

“I think they’re going to catch the criminals,” said Marinello. “But I don’t think they’ll find them with the jewels intact.”

Rico reported from Atlanta.