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SUMMARY:A Tale of Two Dinosaurs
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20191113T074500Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20191113T080500Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260916T152947Z
UID:indico-contribution-2183@events.saip.org.za
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Viktor Radermacher (Evolutionary Studies Institute\,
  University of the Witwatersrand)\nThe Iron-rich fossil-bearing rocks of S
 outh Africa have tempered the success of traditional lab-CT scanning proto
 cols\, with results often lacking sufficient resolution and density contra
 st required for detailed analysis of fossil material. Two dinosaur specime
 ns\, from opposite sides of the dinosaurian family tree\, were recently sc
 anned on the BM05 and ID-19 beamlines at the ESRF. The results produced we
 re not only of a high-enough calibre to permit allow analysis of already-k
 nown material\, but simultaneously permitted the recovery of previously un
 known and obscured material. The first dinosaur scanned\, the basalmost or
 nithischian - Heterodontosaurus\, is currently the largest fossil specimen
  visualised at the ESRF\; and synchrotron-scanning of this specimen (AM476
 6) revealed a suite of anatomical elements previously unknown from the fam
 ily that this dinosaur belongs to. The second dinosaur\, the coelurosauria
 n theropod Nqwebasaurus\, was scanned and formed the basis for my project 
 at the 2016 ESRF Summer-School program. Nqwebasaurus is known from a singl
 e well-preserved specimen (AM4060) that contains most of the postcranial s
 keleton\, but very little of the taxonomically-informative cranial anatomy
 . Synchrotron scanning of the Nqwebasaurus holotype revealed an abundance 
 of unknown and unsuspected cranial elements – more than tripling the kno
 wn elements for this species. These results would have been impossible to 
 obtain without the technology and engineering of the ESRF. We will present
  digital reconstructions of these dinosaurs as well as pertinent new infor
 mation on aspects of their biology. Our results are a testament to the pow
 er of the ESRF facilities to allow maximum utilization of exceedingly rare
  specimens\, produce ground-breaking scientific discoveries\, and redefine
  the status quo.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/173/contributions/218
 3/
LOCATION: Gold Room
URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/173/contributions/2183/
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