HotmailAncient spider guts revealed in 3-D
Scientists used digital wizardry to scan bug through its amber grave
 Univ. of Manchester, Zootaxa High-resolution scans of the ancient spider result in 3-D images from different angles: top of the spider (a), belly view (b), from the front (c) and back end (d) of the spider, and side views (e and f). |
 |
 Kid chef cooks holiday treats Nov. 27: A 13-year-old cook teaches the TODAY hosts how to whip up a turkey risotto that is perfect for the holidays. |
 | Special feature |
 | 10 tips to be a better coupon sleuth Want to save now? 10 Tips columnist Laura T. Coffey offers advice to help you upgrade your electronic and paper coupon skills. |
| FirstPerson |
 | Gallery: Your latest splurges Despite tough economic times, readers share photos of recent big-ticket purchases. |
|
 The last roll Nov. 27: Parsons, Kansas, is place that still processes Kodachrome color film, but Kodak has stopped making it, leaving this little town pondering a big question. NBC’s Bob Dotson reports. |
Digital wizardry has allowed scientists to see the insides of a 53-million-year-old fossilized spider in 3-D.
The male spider is about the size of a pinhead (or a stack of three salt grains) and lived during the early Eocene epoch, from about 55 million to nearly 34 million years ago.
It represents a new genus and species dubbed Cenotextricella simoni. It's also the earliest fossil species of a family of micro-spiders called Micropholcommatids from Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Chile.
The fossil was found preserved in amber in the Paris Basin in France.
“Amber provides a unique window into past forest ecosystems," said lead author David Penney, a paleo-arachnologist at the University of Manchester in England. "It retains an incredible amount of information, not just about the spiders themselves, but also about the environment in which they lived."
Normally, observing the minute features of an already tiny specimen would mean cracking into the amber, potentially destroying the sample.
Instead of physical dissection, Penney and his colleagues used Very High Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography to scan the bug through its amber grave.
The resulting 3-D reconstructions could be sectioned and viewed from various angles, essentially allowing for digital dissection of the spider specimen.
“This technique essentially generates full 3-D reconstructions of minute fossils and permits digital dissection of the specimen to reveal the preservation of internal organs," Penney said.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY & MONEY |
 Technology & Money Section Front |
| Add Technology & Money headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide