▁l ago ons . ▁These ▁bodies ▁of ▁water ▁were ▁o xygen ▁def ic ient , ▁leading ▁to ▁the ▁well - pres erved ▁Sci p iony x ▁spec imen , ▁much ▁like ▁the ▁fine ▁foss il ▁pres ervation ▁seen ▁in ▁Germany ' s ▁Arch ae opter y x . ▁Part s ▁of ▁the ▁wind pipe , ▁int est ines , ▁li ver , ▁blood ▁vessels , ▁cart il age , ▁horn ▁she ath s , ▁tend ons ▁and ▁mus cles ▁were ▁foss il ised ▁in ▁the ▁fine ▁lim estone . ▁The ▁spec imen ' s ▁li ver ▁was ▁preserved ▁in ▁the ▁form ▁of ▁a ▁red ▁h emat ite ▁h alo ▁retain ing ▁the ▁shape ▁it ▁had ▁when ▁the ▁animal ▁was ▁alive . ▁The ▁find ▁has ▁great ▁importance ▁because ▁the ▁relative ▁positions ▁of ▁internal ▁org ans ▁of ▁din osa urs ▁could ▁only ▁be ▁guess ed ▁at ▁before ▁this ▁discovery . ▁The ▁hol ot ype ▁spec imen ▁thus ▁provides ▁unique ▁direct ▁information ▁about ▁the ▁phys i ology ▁of ▁non - av ian ▁din osa urs , ▁especially ▁regarding ▁the ▁dig estion , ▁the ▁resp iration ▁and ▁the ▁ont ogen esis . ▁ ▁Dig estion ▁The ▁dig est ive ▁tract ▁of ▁Sci p iony x ▁is ▁generally ▁short ▁but ▁wide . ▁The ▁overall ▁length ▁of ▁the ▁int est ines ▁— ▁shorter ▁than ▁what ▁was ▁expected ▁— ▁indicates ▁Sci p iony x ▁could ▁process ▁food ▁very ▁efficiently . ▁The ▁efficiency ▁would ▁be ▁improved ▁by ▁the ▁visible ▁int est ine ▁fol ds , ▁the ▁p lic ae ▁circular es