Researchers use CT scans to peer inside 100-million-year-old jaws

March 11, 2024 7:37 PM

Researchers use CT scans to peer inside the 100-million-year-old jaws of an ancient marine reptile. The rare Australian elasmosaur fossil gained global attention when it was discovered on an outback Queensland property in 2022.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (2 comments total)

It amazes me that fossilization, replacing the actual animal with stone, retains enough detail to actually see structures inside of bones with xrays and CT scans. I'd expect something more like a lost-wax casting, the general shape is the same but the internal structure is homogenous.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:44 AM on March 12

Those jaws! I would love to see the whole specimen.
posted by Eikonaut at 12:02 PM on March 12