(Press-News.org) Scientists at The University of Manchester have used synchrotron-based imaging techniques to identify previously unseen anatomy preserved in fossils.
Their work on a 50 million year old lizard skin identified the presence of teeth (invisible to visible light), demonstrating for the first time that this fossil animal was more than just a skin moult. This was only possible using some of the brightest light in the universe, x-rays generated by a synchrotron.
Dr Phil Manning, Dr Nick Edwards, Dr Roy Wogelius and colleagues from the Palaeontology Research group used Synchrotron Rapid Screening X-ray Fluorescence at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in California to map the chemical make up of a rare fossil lizard skin. This cutting edge technology uses powerful x-rays that enabled the team to map the presence of phosphorus from teeth in this ancient reptile.
The relative position of the phosphorous in the skin fossil helped the scientists identify the type of lizard. They believe that the more elongated snout in conjunction with the general jaw shape bears a strong resemblance to a shinisaurid lizard (Bahndwivici ammoskius). The presence of phosphorous also demonstrates for the first time that the fossil skin is more than just a moult, as no lizards can shed their teeth along with their skin!
Talking about the images Dr Manning said: "Finding the presence of teeth changes almost everything we thought we knew about this fossil. We can identify the type of lizard for the first time, based upon the geometry of the teeth. Our findings also raise some fascinating questions about what happened to the animal after its death. What wiped out its bones but preserved the skin and the ghost of its teeth?"
The results of the analysis of the fossil using the synchrotron have been published in the journal Applied Physics A. It adds to the growing weight of evidence that powerful synchrotrons offer advanced fossil analysis.
Dr Manning also said: "The technique permits us to tease-out chemical information from fossils, information that you simply cannot see with the naked eye. Such chemical maps can help us see 'ghosts' of original biological structures that only remain in very dilute concentrations in the fossil."
Dr Nick Edwards, a senior author on the paper, said: "This technology changes how we view taphonomy (the study of decaying organisms and how they are fossilized). We can now start looking for traces of animals that are totally invisible in visible light through analysing the bright chemical signature that appear under the powerful gaze of the synchrotron. This 'x-ray vision' will enable palaeontologists to add important information to the biology, anatomy and preservation of ancient life."
The team worked with a leading geochemist, Dr Roy Wogelius (also a senior author), who was instrumental in the development of the techniques deployed by the Palaeontology Research Group. Dr Wogelius said: "These techniques are beginning to redefine the way we study Life on Earth. It is simply fascinating to work with biologists, physicists, chemists and palaeobiologists because at the crossroads of these disciplines lay many new discoveries for science."
Dr Manning and his team hope to analyse more fossils using the Standford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource and also the UK based Diamond Lightsource, to reveal new findings from ancient worlds by uncovering the subtle echoes of life left for science to find and interpret.
### END
Prehistoric ghosts revealing new details
2012-12-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Research finds crisis in Syria has Mesopotamian precedent
2012-12-18
Research carried out at the University of Sheffield has revealed intriguing parallels between modern day and Bronze-Age Syria as the Mesopotamian region underwent urban decline, government collapse, and drought.
Dr Ellery Frahm from the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology made the discoveries by studying stone tools of obsidian, razor-sharp volcanic glass, crafted in the region about 4,200 years ago.
Dr Frahm used artefacts unearthed from the archaeological site of Tell Mozan, known as Urkesh in antiquity, to trace what happened to trade and social networks ...
pH measurements: How to see the real face of electrochemistry and corrosion?
2012-12-18
For several decades antimony electrodes have been used to measure the acidity/basicity – and so to determine the pH value. Unfortunately, they allow for measuring pH changes of solutions only at a certain distance from electrodes or corroding metals. Researchers at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences developed a method for producing antimony microelectrodes that allow for measuring pH changes just over the metal surface, at which chemical reactions take place.
Changes in solution acidity/basicity provide important information on the nature ...
Patients with diabetes may not receive best treatment to lower heart disease risk
2012-12-18
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For some people with diabetes, there may be such a thing as too much care.
Traditional treatment to reduce risks of heart disease among patients with diabetes has focused on lowering all patients' blood cholesterol to a specific, standard level. But this practice may prompt the over-use of high-dose medications for patients who don't need them, according to new research from the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (VAAAHS) and the University of Michigan Health System.
The study encourages a more individualized approach to treatment that adjusts treatment ...
Way to make one-way flu vaccine discovered by Georgia State researcher
2012-12-18
A new process to make a one-time, universal influenza vaccine has been discovered by a researcher at Georgia State University's Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection and his partners.
Associate Professor Sang-Moo Kang and his collaborators have found a way to make the one-time vaccine by using recombinant genetic engineering technology that does not use a seasonal virus.
Instead, the new vaccine uses a virus' small fragment that does not vary among the different strains of flu viruses.
By using the fragment and generating particles mimicking a virus in ...
Southampton researchers find a glitch' in pulsar 'glitch' theory
2012-12-18
Researchers from the University of Southampton have called in to question a 40 year-old theory explaining the periodic speeding up or 'glitching' of pulsars.
A pulsar is a highly magnetised rotating neutron star formed from the remains of a supernova. It emits a rotating beam of electromagnetic radiation, which can be detected by powerful telescopes when it sweeps past the Earth, rather like observing the beam of a lighthouse from a ship at sea.
Pulsars rotate at extremely stable speeds, but occasionally they speed up in brief events described as 'glitches' or 'spin-ups'. ...
Women earn more if they work in different occupations than men
2012-12-18
Women earn less money than men the more the sexes share the same occupations, a large-scale survey of 20 industrialised countries has found.
Researchers from the universities of Cambridge, UK, and Lakehead, Canada, found that the more women and men keep to different trades and professions, the more equal is the overall pay average for the two sexes in a country.
The researchers attribute the surprising results to the fact that when there are few men in an occupation, women have more chance to get to the top and earn more. But where there are more equal numbers of ...
Visions of snowflakes: An American Chemical Society holiday video
2012-12-18
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2012 — For everyone with holiday visions of snowflakes dancing in their heads, the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, today issued a video explaining how dust, water, cold and air currents collaborate to form these symbols of the season. It's all there in an episode of Bytesize Science, the award-winning video series produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs at www.BytesizeScience.com.
The video tracks formation of snowflakes from their origins in bits of dust in clouds that become droplets of water falling to Earth. ...
Mistaking OCD for ADHD has serious consequences
2012-12-18
On the surface, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear very similar, with impaired attention, memory, or behavioral control. But Prof. Reuven Dar of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences argues that these two neuropsychological disorders have very different roots — and there are enormous consequences if they are mistaken for each other.
Prof. Dar and fellow researcher Dr. Amitai Abramovitch, who completed his PhD under Prof. Dar's supervision, have determined that despite appearances, OCD and ACHD ...
Spread of cancer cells may be slowed by targeting of protein
2012-12-18
HERSHEY, Pa.--The spread of cancer cells may be slowed by targeting the protein km23-1, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.
A motor protein that transports cargo within the cell, km23-1 is also involved in the movement or migration of cells. Migration is necessary for cancer to spread, so understanding this cell movement is important for development of better cancer treatments.
Kathleen Mulder, Ph.D., professor, biochemistry and molecular biology, looked for partner proteins that bind to and cooperate with km23-1 during cell movement, which ...
UNC researchers discover how hepatitis C virus reprograms human liver cells
2012-12-18
Chapel Hill, NC – CHAPEL HILL – Hepatitis C virus has evolved to invade and hijack the basic machinery of the human liver cell to ensure its survival and spread. Researchers at the University of North have discovered how hepatitis C binds with and repurposes a basic component of cellular metabolism known as a microRNA to help protect and replicate the virus.
In a paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec. 17, researchers in the laboratory of Stanley M. Lemon, MD, professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology and member of ...