They looked at the fossil’s remaining soft tissues and scarring where muscles once attached to the inside of its shell.īy combining high-resolution X-ray and high-contrast neutron imaging, they created a detailed 3D computer reconstruction of the structure, size and orientation of its muscles and organs. To carry out the study, the researchers studied the five-centimetres-across ammonite fossil which was found within an exposed Jurassic sediment at a Gloucestershire site in 1998. Thus, ammonite fossils with preserved muscles and organs are extremely rare. Dr Lesley Cherns Cardiff Universityīased on their hard shells as these are more easily preserved over millennia than bodily tissues. They are among the most common fossils worldwide, but almost everything we know about them so far is Preservation of soft parts is exceptionally rare in ammonites, even in comparison to fossils of closely related animals like squid. View embedded Giphy content Squid-like propulsionĪmmonites, which became extinct around 66 million years ago, once thrived in oceans as dinosaurs ruled the Earth. The research, published in Geology, marks the first time an ammonite’s softer parts have been visualised in three dimensions – and is thanks to a combination of modern technology, the fossil’s exceptional preservation, and collaboration across interdisciplinary teams and facilities. The team, led by researchers from Cardiff University and including Imperial College London, found this by analysing the muscles and organs of an exceptionally well-preserved ammonite fossil found over 20 years ago in Gloucestershire, UK. Dr Alan Spencer Department of Earth Science and Engineering Backlit shell with visible organs (to the left) This is a major breakthrough in ammonite palaeobiology. They also found strong muscles that ammonites used to retract into their shells to defend against predators. They found that the now-extinct molluscs sported hyponomes: tube-like syphons through which water is expelled to jet propel animals forward in water, as found in modern squid and octopuses. For the first time, researchers have revealed the soft tissues of a 165-million-year-old ammonite fossil using 3D imaging.
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