Researchers successfully produced the highest resolution scan of a 74 million-year-old dinosaur skull. The results serve as new puzzle pieces that would bring scientists closer to perfecting the evolutionary puzzle of a close relative of the dreaded Tyrannosaurus Rex.
A closer look inside a dinosaur’s skull
Researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science were able to look deeper into the interiors of the skull of the Bisti Beast. According to Santa Fe New Mexican, the researchers were able to produce the highest resolution image of the internal structure of the Bistahieversor sealeyi skull.
The impressive resolution of the scan was made possible with the use of high-energy X-rays and neutron beams.
The image revealed specific details of the dinosaur’s brain chamber and its sinus cavities. The scan also captured trails of the dinosaur’s and veins. Details of teeth that formed but never reached the surface of its gums were also recorded.
According to Thomas Williamson, curator of paleontology and member of the team that retrieved the T.Rex fossil way back in the 1990s, the scan result is expected to help paleontologist to discover how various species of the T. Rex family evolved and how they are related to each other.
The remains of the Bistahieversor sealeyi were unearthed in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness.
The dry and barren area today was a warm and swampy terrain when the Bisti Beast were still roaming the Earth.
The structure and behavior of the Bisti Beast
Bistahieversor sealeyi are close relatives of the popular Tyrannosaurus Rex. According to Dailymail, researchers believe that the species existed 10 million years before its T.
Tex relatives. The Bistahieversor sealeyi were equipped with advanced features. The species were characterized by a huge head and small forelimbs. Their jaws were believed to be capable of crushing the bones of their prey, a feature that is believed to be essential to the survival of its T. Rex relatives.
The high-resolution scan technology of the Los Alamos Laboratories are usually used for laboratory works on matters of national security.
Officials said that the dinosaur’s skull is the largest object that has been subjected to the high-resolution scan to date. The skull which was 40 inches thick was usually a blind spot for typical X-rays. Researchers are thrilled over the new discoveries that are about to unfold.
