The first ever detailed computerized 3-D images of soft-bodied fossils have been developed by scientists at the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Leicester. The images show a 425 million year old mollusc from the Silurian rocks in Herefordshire. They are published in this week's issue of Nature,
Some 425 million years ago, Herefordshire was covered by a deep continental sea containing sunken reefs which housed a wide variety of marine life. At some point, volcanic ash rained down onto the sea floor, creating an exceptionally rare and rich fossil archive as many tiny soft-bodied organisms, such as molluscs, were engulfed and preserved in the ash, rather than decomposing or being squashed flat in the bed, which usually happens.
The new technique involves micro-grinding of the fossils combined with computer regeneration techniques, which project the 4cm fossil in 3-D imagery and show its anatomy in unprecedented detail, including its many plates and spines.
As the technique progresses, it will enable scientists, for the very first time, to create realistic models of the distant ancestors of today's snails, mussels and octopi and build up a more complete record of the diversity and ecology of life hundreds of millions of years ago.
Dr. Mark Sutton, who pioneered the approach in Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences, said, "Using our new technique, we are finding that we are able to resurrect ancient creatures and project them into the 21st century, where they can tell us more about what life was like hundreds of millions of years ago.
"These 'virtual fossils' are an amazing combination of the old and new, and after our success with the mollusc we are looking forward to studying many other organisms and adding more pieces to the evolutionary jigsaw (puzzle)."
(Reference: An exceptionally preserved vermiform mollusc from the Silurian of England is published in Nature 22.03.01, and authored by Mark D. Sutton, Earth Sciences Department, University of Oxford, Derek E.G. Briggs, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, David J. Siveter, Department of Geology, University of Leicester & Derek J. Siveter, Geological Collections, University Museum of Natural History, Oxford.)
(Editor's Note: For animated images of the mollusc, go to this URL.)
23-Mar-2001
