Improved noninvasive microstructural analysis of fossil tissues by means of SR-microtomography

Bone is a dynamic tissue which records and partially stores a relevant amount of biological and biomechanical information. In paleobiological investigation, a satisfactory access to this hidden archive is limited by the unavoidable need to assure integrity of the fossil record. According to our experience, based on a variety of advanced nondestructive approaches in imaging fossil tissues, synchrotron radiation microtomography (SR-μCT) assures the quasi-ideal physical conditions to explore and to finely characterise at a high spatial resolution the inner structural morphology of relatively large-sized and highly mineralised fossil specimens for 2D and 3D modelling and reliable quantitative analyses.

[1]  R Huiskes,et al.  A theoretical framework for strain-related trabecular bone maintenance and adaptation. , 2005, Journal of biomechanics.

[2]  P. Jacobs,et al.  Applications of X-ray computed tomography in the geosciences , 2003, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[3]  Kentaro Uesugi,et al.  Bone structure and mineralization demonstrated using synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SR-CT) in animal models: preliminary findings , 2003, Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism.

[4]  J Treil,et al.  External and Internal Morphology of the BAR 1002'00 Orrorin tugenensis Femur , 2004, Science.

[5]  F. Zonneveld,et al.  Linear measurements of cortical bone and dental enamel by computed tomography: applications and problems. , 1993, American journal of physical anthropology.

[6]  P. Cloetens,et al.  Perspectives in three-dimensional analysis of bone samples using synchrotron radiation microtomography. , 2000, Cellular and molecular biology.

[7]  Rik Huiskes,et al.  Effects of mechanical forces on maintenance and adaptation of form in trabecular bone , 2000, Nature.

[8]  Todd J. Krochta,et al.  Cortical bone distribution in the femoral neck of hominoids: implications for the locomotion of Australopithecus afarensis. , 1997, American journal of physical anthropology.

[9]  M. H. Day,et al.  New hominids from East Turkana, Kenya. , 1976, American journal of physical anthropology.

[10]  G. Weber,et al.  Virtual anthropology (VA): A call for Glasnost in paleoanthropology , 2001, The Anatomical record.

[11]  Luca Bondioli,et al.  MicroCT Scan in paleobiology: application to the study of dental tissues , 2004 .

[12]  M. Schultz.  Paleohistopathology of bone: A new approach to the study of ancient diseases , 2001 .

[13]  R. Huiskes,et al.  Load transfer across the pelvic bone. , 1995, Journal of biomechanics.

[14]  Y. Rak,et al.  Kebara 2 Neanderthal pelvis: first look at a complete inlet. , 1987, American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

[15]  S. Moyà-Solà,et al.  Oreopithecus was a bipedal ape after all: evidence from the iliac cancellous architecture. , 1999, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  P. Tobias,et al.  Hip bone trabecular architecture shows uniquely distinctive locomotor behaviour in South African australopithecines. , 1999, Journal of human evolution.

[17]  C. Lovejoy,et al.  The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: applying contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record. , 2002, American journal of physical anthropology.

[18]  G. Martin,et al.  Deciphering skeletal patterning: clues from the limb , 2003, Nature.

[19]  George Sanger,et al.  Structure and Mechanics , 1991 .

[20]  Steven A. Goldstein,et al.  Measurement and significance of three-dimensional architecture to the mechanical integrity of trabecular bone , 2005, Calcified Tissue International.

[21]  P. Rüegsegger,et al.  Morphometric analysis of human bone biopsies: a quantitative structural comparison of histological sections and micro-computed tomography. , 1998, Bone.

[22]  S. Fiedler,et al.  Comparison between a position sensitive germanium detector and a taper optics CCD “FRELON” camera for diffraction enhanced imaging , 2003 .

[23]  Bert van Rietbergen,et al.  Mechanical significance of femoral head trabecular bone structure in Loris and Galago evaluated using micromechanical finite element models. , 2005, American journal of physical anthropology.

[24]  M. Capecchi,et al.  Materials and Methods Som Text Figs. S1 to S4 Tables S1 and S2 References and Notes Hox10 and Hox11 Genes Are Required to Globally Pattern the Mammalian Skeleton , 2022 .

[25]  P Cloetens,et al.  A synchrotron radiation microtomography system for the analysis of trabecular bone samples. , 1999, Medical physics.

[26]  R Huiskes,et al.  If bone is the answer, then what is the question? , 2000, Journal of anatomy.

[27]  G. Müller,et al.  Electronic removal of encrustations inside the Steinheim cranium reveals paranasal sinus features and deformations, and provides a revised endocranial volume estimate. , 2003, Anatomical record. Part B, New anatomist.

[28]  F. Eckstein,et al.  Technical Considerations for Microstructural Analysis of Human Trabecular Bone from Specimens Excised from Various Skeletal Sites , 2004, Calcified Tissue International.

[29]  J. Straus.  Spontaneous Changes in Corn Endosperm Tissue Cultures , 1958, Science.

[30]  M. Köhler,et al.  The bony labyrinth of Oreopithecus bambolii. , 2004, Journal of human evolution.

[31]  R Müller,et al.  Three-dimensional analysis of nonhuman primate trabecular architecture using micro-computed tomography. , 2001, American journal of physical anthropology.

[32]  R. Huiskes,et al.  Fabric and elastic principal directions of cancellous bone are closely related. , 1997, Journal of biomechanics.

[33]  P. Spanne,et al.  Instrumentation of the ESRF medical imaging facility , 1999 .