Seeing inside fossils

Synchrotron light is becoming an invaluable investigation tool for palaeontologists, thanks to its outstanding properties. It allows the external and internal structures of a large variety of fossils to be imaged in three dimensions with a resolution unattainable with other non-destructive methods.

3D reconstruction of a dinosaur feather found in a 100-million-year-old piece of amber (Credit: Paul Tafforeau/ESRF, Vincent Perrichot/UMR CNRS 6118).

Further information:

• ESRF X-rays reveal clues about life 100 million years ago trapped in opaque amber

• Ref.: V. Perrichot et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 275, 1197-1202 (2008).