Abstract
Portugal is ranked within the 10 countries with the most dinosaur taxa and the Lourinhã Formation is known by the Late Jurassic findings of dinosaurs and other fossils. In many cases, studies of the external morphological characteristics of the fossils are not sufficient to extract all the information for a paleontological study and, thus, observations of internal structures, using non-destructive techniques, are required. The fossils studied in the present work belong to the Museum of Lourinhã. The access to the Geesthacht Neutron Facility in Germany allowed us to characterize a jaw of the dinosaur Baryonyx walkeri specimen and the jaw of a crocodile (possibly a Tomistomidae) by Neutron Tomography. The study allowed us to detect the presence of teeth inside the jaws and it provides valuable information about the development of its dental characteristics. Synchrotron radiation based micro-computed tomography studies on tiny samples have been performed at the beamline HARWI II operated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht at the storage ring DORIS III at the Deutsches Elektronen–Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The first data recorded for eggshells collected in the Lourinhã Formation is shown. It allowed us to visualize the morphology of the pores and their connectivity in the eggshells, providing information that is either exceedingly difficult or impossible to obtain by traditional methods based on section cutting.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Santana Fossils, An Illustrated Atlas, edited by J.G. Maisey (T.H.F. Publications, Inc., T.F.H. Plaza, Third & Union Aves., Neptune, NJ 07753, 1991).
G. Hill, J. Geol. Soc. London 146, 539 (1989).
M. T. Antunes, Mem. Acad. Ciências de Lisboa 37, 125 (1998).
O. Mateus, Mem. Acad. Ciências de Lisboa 37, 111 (1998).
J. Bonaparte and O. Mateus, Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 5, 13 (1999).
M. T. Antunes and O. Mateus, C. R, Palevol. 2, 77 (2003).
O. Mateus and J. Milán, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science 51, 81 (2010).
I. Mateus, H. Mateus, M. T. Antunes, O. Mateus, P. Taquet, V. Ribeiro and G. Manupella, C.R. Académie des Sciences, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 325, 71(1997).
A. Ricqlès, O. Mateus, M.T. Antunes and P. Taquet, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des planètes / Earth and Planetary Sciences 332, 647 (2001).
R. Castanhinha, R. Araújo and O. Mateus, J. Vert. Paleontol. 29(3), 76A (2009).
J. Milàn, P. Christiansen and O. Mateus, Kaupia, Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturkunde 14, 47 (2005).
O. Mateus and J. Milàn, Lethaia 43, 245 (2010).
A. F. Lapparent and G. Zbyszewski, Mémoires des Services Géologiques du Portugal, nouv. Sér. 2, 1 (1957).
E. Buffetaut, Geol. Mag. 144, 1021 (2007).
A. Ar, C.V. Paganelli, R.B. Reeves, D.G. Greene and H. Rahn, Condor 76, 153 (1974).
R.S. Seymour, Paleobiology 5, 1 (1979).
Computed Tomography - Principles, Design, Artifacts, and Recent Advances, edited by J. Hsieh (SPIE Wiley, Bellingham, Washington USA, 2009).
P. Hohenstein, Br. J. Radiol. 77, 420 (2004).
M. Dierick, V. Cnudde, B. Masschaele, J. Vlassenbroeck, L. Van Hoorebeke and P. Jacobs, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A 580, 641 (2007).
P. Vontobel, E.H. Lehmann, R. Hassanein and G. Frei, Physica B 385–386, 475 (2006).
N. Kardjilov, F. Fiori, G. Giunta, A. Hilger, F. Rustichelli, M. Strobl, J. Banhart and R. Triolo, J. Neutron Res. 14, 29 (2006).
P. Tafforeau, R. Boistel, E. Boller, A. Bravin, M. Brunet, Y. Chaimanee, P. Cloetens, M. Feist, J. Hoszowska, J.-J. Jaeger, R.F. Kay, V. Lazzari, L. Marivaux, A. Nel, C. Nemoz, X. Thibault, P. Vignaud and S. Zabler, Appl. Phys. A 83, 195 (2006).
R. Bernhardt, D. Scharnweber, B. Müller, P. Thurner, H. Schliephake, P. Wyss, F. Beckmann, J. Goebbels and H. Worch, European Cells and Materials 7, 42 (2004).
O. Brunke, K. Brockdorf, S. Drews, Bert Müller, T. Donath, J. Herzen and F. Beckmann, Proc. of SPIE 7078, 70780U (2008).
F. Beckmann, J. Vollbrandt, T. Donath, H.W Schmitz and A. Schreyer, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A 542, 279 (2005).
A.S. Tremsin, J.B. McPhate, E.H. Lehmann, J.V. Vallerga, O.H.W. Siegmund and W.B. Feller, JINST 6, C01041, (2011).
F. Beckmann, T. Lippmann, J. Metge, T. Dose, T. Donath, M. Tischer, K.D. Liss and A. Schreyer, in Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation: Eighth International Conference, edited by T. Warwick et al. (American Institute of Physics, 2004) p. 392–395.
F. Beckmann, T. Dose, T. Lippmann, R. V. Martins and A. Schreyer, in Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation: Ninth International Conference (AIP Conf. Proc. 879, 2007) p. 746–749.
Neutrons and Synchrotron Radiation in Engineering Materials Science: From Fundamentals to Material and Component Characterization, edited by W. Reimers, A.R. Pyzalla, A. Schreyer and H. Clemens (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA, Weinheim, 2008).
J. Herzen, PhD. Thesis, Hamburg University, 2010.
M. T. Antunes, P. Taquet and V. Ribeiro, Mem. Acad. Ciências de Lisboa 37, 83 (1998).
P.C. Sereno, A.L. Beck, D.B. Dutheil, B. Gado, H.C.E. Larsson, G.H. Lyon, J.D. Marcot, O.W.M. Rauhut, R.W. Sadleir, C.A. Sidor, D.D. Varricchio, G.P. Wilson and J.A. Wilson, Science 282, 1298 (1998).
J.F. Barrett and N. Keat, RadioGraphics 24, 1679 (2004).
Eggs, nests and baby dinosaurs: A look at dinosaur reproduction, edited by K. Carpenter, (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 1999).
P.J. Withers, Mater. Today 10, 26 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martins, R.M., Beckmann, F., Castanhinha, R. et al. Dinosaur and Crocodile Fossils from the Mesozoic of Portugal: Neutron Tomography and Synchrotron-Radiation Based Micro-Computed Tomography. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1319, 203 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2011.794
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2011.794