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A PRICELESS fossil of the 3.67-million -year-old ‘Little Foot’ skull was flown from South Africa to a lab near Didcot. With the help of an X-ray, scientists at the British research facility Diamond Light Source, were able to see some microscopic details in the ancient remains that could help unravel key clues to the origins of modern humans. The X-ray work from June 2019 is highlighted in a new paper in e-life published this week which reveals new information about evolution and human origins. The scientists were able to observe and describe the vascular canals that are enclosed in the compact bone of the lower jaw.
Little Foot skull x-rayed in Didcot Diamond lab thisisoxfordshire.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisisoxfordshire.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2 March 2021 - Wits University
High resolution X-ray imaging of Little Foot s skull and dentition shows Little Foot suffered periods of dietary stress and illness when she was a child.
In June 2019, an international team, including researchers from Wits University, took the complete skull of the 3.67-million-year-old âLittle Footâ
Australopithecus skeleton, from South Africa to the UK and achieved unprecedented imaging resolution of its bony structures and dentition in an X-ray synchrotron-based investigation at the UKâs national synchrotron, Diamond Light Source.
The X-ray work is highlighted in a new paper in e-Life, published today (2nd March 2021) focusing on the inner craniodental features of âLittle Footâ. The remarkable completeness and great age of the âLittle Footâ skeleton makes it a crucially important specimen in human origins research and a prime candidate for exploring human evolution through high-resolution virtual analysis.
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 ima