New technology allows scientists first glimpse of intricate details of Little Foot’s life
Applications of X-ray synchrotron-based analytical techniques in evolutionary studies have opened up new avenues in the field of (paleo) anthropology. In particular, X-ray synchrotron microtomography has proved to be enormously useful for observing the smallestanatomical structures in fossils that are traditionally only seen by slicing through the bonesand looking at them under a microscope. Through the last decade, there have been more studies in palaeo anthropology using synchrotron radiation to investigate teeth and brain imprints in fossil hominins. However, scanning a complete skull such as the one of ‘Little Foot’ and aiming to reveal very small details using a very high-resolution was quite challenging, but the team managed to develop a new protocol that madethis possible. To recover the smallest possible details from a fairly large and very fragile fossil, the team decided to image the skull using synchrotron X-ray micro computed tomography at the I12 beamline at Diamond.