Institute for the Study
of Earth and Man

 

   


Details in Amber

Fossils preserved in amber provide scientists an exciting chance to see ancient life preserved in incredible detail. For some features, like skin texture, the amber preservation allows scientists to see even very small details.
Click for a larger view.

Unlocking secrets in 3-dimensions

While the amber preserves small details, it also locks some of the bones away from view. Using 3-D images created from CT scans, ISEM researchers can view the bones and can rotate their images inside a computer, looking for important features of the skeleton.
Click to see 3-D images.

 

 

  

Grab your 3-D specs!
The ISEM's 3-D gallery can be viewed with any 3-D glasses.
 
Using computed tomography scanning, similar to the CT scanning used in hospitals and doctors' offices, the ISEM researchers at Southern Methodist University are able to create a three-dimensional view of this tiny lizard's skull. The bones are preserved inside a nugget of amber, found in the Dominican Republic. See Palaeontologia Electronica, Vol 5, No.1
 

A fossil rarity smaller than a penny.

 
The amber holding the skull being studied is smaller than a penny. The Anolis skull is smaller than the profile of Abraham Lincoln on the penny. Click for detail.

Fossil vertebrates preserved in amber are rare, and they are prized by scientists for the detailed anatomical structures they may preserve.

Although as many as a dozen lizards in amber may exist, most are in private collections. Only two specimens of Anolis lizards preserved in Dominican amber have been scientifically studied and described. Both descriptions are based on relatively complete skeletons retaining some soft tissue and scales. A recent study tentatively referred both specimens to the A. chlorocyanus species group.

ISEM researcher Michael Polcyn's study makes use of the first known application of X-ray computed tomography in the analysis of an amber-preserved vertebrate fossil. CT analysis, amongst other details, reveals the new specimen does not possess a splenial, and suggests the new specimen, and possibly the previously described amber anoles, are nested within the "T clade" anoles, of which the A. chlorocyanus species group is included.

The irregularly shaped piece of amber containing the specimen is approximately 1.5cm in the longest axis and 1 cm in the shortest axis, enclosing a relatively complete skull, portions of the first five cervical vertebrae, some soft tissue and scales. The posterior-most preserved vertebral element is exposed to the polished surface of the amber, the remaining portion of the fossil is completely encapsulated. The amber is dark and the surface highly irregular limiting visual examination due to optical distortion and semi-opacity of the amber, therefore x-ray computed tomography was employed to facilitate description.

  

Background
Information

ISEM researcher used x-ray computed tomography in the analysis of the amber-preserved fossil. See how it was done.

Amber from
Hispaniola

The specimen studied by Mike Polcyn at ISEM was discovered by Bill Lowe of Granbury, TX, in a commercial shipment of amber containing
plant and insect inclusions...
Learn more!

 

  
           
   

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