Jurassic ammonites flex their muscles in a nearly 3-D manner
Also: Bringing a 400 million-year-old fossilized armored worm to virtual life. According to an article published last month in the journal Geology, the techniques are revealing inner muscles never seen before. Another article published last month in Papers in Paleontology reported the creation of virtual 3-D models of armor plates from the fossilized skeletons of two new species of ancient worms 400 million years ago.
The ammonite fossil used in the geological study was discovered in 1998 at the Claydon Pike site in Gloucestershire, England, and consists mainly of sand, sandstone and limestone with weak cement. Numerous mollusk shells are scattered throughout the site, but this specific specimen was largely intact and showed no signs of prolonged exposure through shrinkage, peeling, or exhumation, and the tomb did not appear from elsewhere and settled. The fossil is now in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
"When I found the fossil, I immediately knew it was something special. Technology Facility Council "The crust split in two and the fossil body came out and something like soft tissue appeared. It's amazing to finally know what these technologies are used for in advanced imaging."
Read more: A rare 50 million-year-old fossilized insect flashes on its penis for the future. The researchers then combined two powerful, complementary imaging technologies.
< p> Neutron tomography is very similar to X-ray imaging techniques, except that it is not affected by the density of the material.So some things that can be seen easily with neutron imaging may be difficult or impossible to see with X-ray imaging (and vice versa).The team collected more than 1,800 A 30-second image was taken by neutron tomography and they used computer software to reconstruct it into 2D slices, a physical object that can be used to reconstruct a virtual 3D model without destroying the original object.Using this method, the team recorded 6000 projections reconstructed into a 3D image. X-ray microscopy data are particularly useful for revealing fundamental details about the structure of the inner and outer envelope.The X-ray data, when aligned with neutron tomography data, have led to representations 3D is too wrong for the hole.
"Despite the discovery more than 20 years ago, scientists are resisting the destructive option." Re-remove the fossil to see what's inside, said Alan Spencer of Imperial College London. Instead, we've waited for non-destructive technology to arrive - as now, allowing us to understand these internal structures without harming this unique and rare fossil. It is a testament to patience and a marvel of technological advances in paleontology. Zoom in / Ammonite Foss Prevent night swells. Leslie Cherns et al., 2021
Archaeologists often rely on the modern nautilus as a model for ancient ammonoid fossils. , which bears at least an outward resemblance to its ancestors from the Jurassic period. But this new 3D model, showing muscle and soft tissue, suggests that these similarities may be deep only in the crust, and that, in evolutionary terms, ammonites may have more in common with the current colloidal subgroup, including squid and octopus. Help a fish.
Zoom in / Virtual 3D model of Jurassic ammonite fossils show internal muscles never seen before. "Conservation of soft parts in ammonites is very rare, even compared to the fossils of animals close to squid," says Leslie Cherns and colleagues from Cardiff University. "We found evidence of muscle not present in the nautilus, which provided important new insights into the anatomy and functional morphology of ammonites." Another study shows that the guts of snail sharks act like Nikola Tesla's water valves, the proximity of the opening being pushed toward the valve. Among other findings, the researchers note that the muscles of the placenta extend from the body of the ammonites, which they suspect the animal may have used to accumulate more in its shell to deter predators. (Ammonites did not have a defense like an ink sac, which is common in octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish.)
"It took more than 20 years of patient work and testing of new, non-destructive techniques for scanning fossils," said Russell Garwood of the University of Manchester. And fellow at the Museum of Natural History: "until we come up with a combination that can be used for this rare specimen." And the speed of technological progress in paleontology in recent years."
Tags: jurassic, ammonites, flex, ir, muscles, nearly, 3-d, manner
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