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Ancient spider digitally dissected
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:47:15
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British and Belgian scientists have used an X-ray-based medical imaging technique to reconstruct a 1mm spider in exquisite detail.
The ancient spider had been trapped in amber and preserved in a lowland area around Paris, France, BBC news reported.
The scientists have reconstructed the original appearance of the 53-million-year-old male creature, formally classified as Cenotextricella simoni.
The "digitally dissect" tiny spider has been revealed in amazing detail such as the preservation of internal organs. The pictures are published in the journal Zootaxa.
"This is definitely the way forward for the study of amber fossils," said David Penney, from Manchester University and lead author on the study.
"Amber provides a unique window into past forest ecosystems. It retains an incredible amount of information, not just about the spiders themselves, but also about the environment in which they lived," he added.
This is the first time that scientists have used the medical imaging technique, known as Very High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography, to investigate a fossil in amber.
TE/HGH
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