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IMAGE: (here a team from the Aathal dinosaur museum in Wyoming, co-author Hans-Jakob Siber front center) often belong to different animals. view more
Credit: (c) Sauriermuseum Aathal
Fossil sites sometimes resemble a living room table on which half a dozen different jigsaw puzzles have been dumped: It is often difficult to say which bone belongs to which animal. Together with colleagues from Switzerland, researchers from the University of Bonn have now presented a method that allows a more certain answer to this question. Their results are published in the journal
Palaeontologia Electronica.
Fossilized dinosaur bones are relatively rare. But if any are found, it is often in large quantities. Many sites contain the remains of dozens of animals, explains Prof. Dr. Martin Sander from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn.
summary
Understanding the complex interplay of physical and chemical processes leading to fossilization is crucial to elucidating the 3800 million years of life on earth. And yet, the process of fossilization also leads to the loss of pivotal biological information, placing constraints on the very same understanding of ancient life it preserves. Over the last decade, however, remarkable advances in approaches, techniques, tools, and instrumentation have helped scientists to transcend these constraints by enabling high-resolution analysis of fossil material even down to the nanoscale.
Fossilization provides a critical look at these cutting-edge innovations in the science of fossil preservation and provides a road map for future research. Drawing from the fields of paleontology, organic and inorganic chemistry, microbiology, and high-resolution imaging and analysis, and spanning the diversity of life from plants to vertebrates and invertebrates, this resource details expert