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Three-Dimensional Synchrotron Virtual Paleohistology: A New Insight into the World of Fossil Bone Microstructures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2012

Sophie Sanchez ,
Per E. Ahlberg ,
Katherine M. Trinajstic ,
Alessandro Mirone  and
Paul Tafforeau
Sophie Sanchez*
Affiliation:
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP220, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Per E. Ahlberg
Affiliation:
Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Katherine M. Trinajstic
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, Bentley Campus, GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australia
Alessandro Mirone
Affiliation:
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP220, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
Paul Tafforeau
Affiliation:
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP220, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The recent developments of phase-contrast synchrotron imaging techniques have been of great interest for paleontologists, providing three-dimensional (3D) tomographic images of anatomical structures, thereby leading to new paleobiological insights and the discovery of new species. However, until now, it has not been used on features smaller than 5–7 μm voxel size in fossil bones. Because much information is contained within the 3D histological architecture of bone, including an ontogenetic record, crucial for understanding the paleobiology of fossil species, the application of phase-contrast synchrotron tomography to bone at higher resolutions is potentially of great interest. Here we use this technique to provide new 3D insights into the submicron-scale histology of fossil and recent bones, based on the development of new pink-beam configurations, data acquisition strategies, and improved processing tools. Not only do the scans reveal by nondestructive means all of the major features of the histology at a resolution comparable to that of optical microscopy, they provide 3D information that cannot be obtained by any other method.

Keywords

X-ray imagingphase contrastbonepaleontologybiology
Type
Biological Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 18 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 1095 - 1105
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2012

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