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The feathered limbs, pointed teeth and sharp claws of the oldest known bird-like dinosaurs, the Archaeopteryx, have fascinated naturalists and palaeontologists including Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin who propelled the species to fame especially following publication of his theory of evolution.
So, when a precious 150-million-year-old Ostromia crassipes fossil - formerly known as a specimen of Archaeopteryx - arrived at Diamond Light Source in a high security operation, it naturally caused a great deal of excitement. The rare fossil, which is usually housed at the renowned Teylers Museum in the Netherlands, was brought to Diamond so scientists and students could discover more about its features, including the colour of its feathers. The specimen was studied on the I18 beamline, using its microfocus X-ray, and this was the first time it had been examined in such detail.
Collection manager at the museum, Tim de Zeeuw, described the fossil as the Mona Lisa of the museum’s collection. The Jurassic fossil is so precious, it was secretly brought to the UK by a special transport team and was kept under lock and key around the clock, even while on the beamline at Diamond.
The new research will be the subject of a forthcoming paper and is a collaboration between the University of Utrecht and Teylers Museum. Lead author, Edgar Mulder, a master's student at the university explained that it was a bit of dream come true to get time to examine the fossil at Diamond and the team worked through the night to get as much information as possible.
The fossil was found in Jachenhausen, a village in southeastern Germany in 1855. When it was discovered, it was thought to be a pterosaur until 1970 when it was identified as an Archaeopteryx.
Professor Dr Anne S. Schulp at the University of Utrecht, said,
In 2017, it was concluded that this sample was more closely related to the Chinese Anchiornis and given the name Ostromia. This new research at Diamond is helping to further determine its features. It is particularly important as the Archaeopteryx and other ‘early birds’ play a key role in the origin of birds.
The Archaeopteryx is called the ‘first true bird’ and is about the same size as a magpie at around 20 inches (appx. 50 cm) from head to tail. This Ostromia fossil shows the knee region, part of the wing, claws, ribs, lower stomach bones, and feather imprints.
Master's student Edgar Mulder added,
This is really exciting work as the Ostromia has the claws and teeth of a dinosaur but the feathers of a bird, which places this species “in between” dinosaurs and birds. We hope the results will reveal the pattern in the feathers and identification of the melanin could suggest the colour of the feathers. Similarly, if the feathers and claws have been preserved and keratin is within the sheath on the bony claw, this will show that like humans, it had a terminal phalange, which grows on top a specialised nail made from keratin.
Analysis was conducted using a combination of X-ray fluorescence imaging and absorption spectroscopy at Diamond’s microfocus spectroscopy beamline I18.
Principal Beamline Scientist on I18, Konstantin Ignatyev, added:
This beamline has a super bright energy-tuneable X-ray microbeam that can be focused down to 2 micron and can scan the widest range of elements on the periodic table. This allows the study of elemental and chemical composition of various samples at very high spatial resolution. In this case, it allowed us to look in detail at the chemical environment of sulphur at different locations on the fossil, as well as pinpoint the distribution and concentration of other elements from phosphor to zinc. Looking at the sulphur chemistry in this sample, for example, might reveal chemical signals of degradation products of soft tissues like tissues, feathers, skin and keratin. Which will reveal more detail about this fossil than what has been possible to see before.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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