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Palaeontology: How modern imaging is rewriting dinosaur research
Laser scans, synchrotron rays and virtual 3D models are ushering in a new era for palaeontology. Technologies that were once only known from medicine or particle physics now provide insights into fossil remains that had remained unexplored for decades. Two recent studies from the UK impressively demonstrate how digital imaging not only brings forgotten fossils to life, but even reveals completely new species of dinosaurs.
A jawbone that had been waiting to be discovered since 1899
A mysterious rock had been lying in the archives of a museum near Cardiff for over a century. It contained no bones, only the natural imprint of a lower jaw – inside and out – with 16 teeth. Vaguely classified as ‘possibly a dinosaur’ in 1899, the fossil was forgotten. But its geological dating made it unique: about 203 million years old, from the late Triassic period, a time when carnivorous dinosaurs were rare and generally rather small.
Using photogrammetry, a technique that creates a three-dimensional model from hundreds of high-resolution photos, a contactless digital reconstruction of the jaw was now possible for the first time. The model revealed details that were previously invisible: blood channels, nerve pathways and the characteristic jagged cutting edges of the teeth.
Comparison with known genera led to a scientific sensation: the jaw belonged to a previously unknown large predatory dinosaur – older than the famous Dilophosaurus and significantly larger than earlier Triassic carnivores. The researchers named it Newtonsaurus cambrensis, in honour of the British palaeontologist Edwin Tulley Newton. With an estimated length of up to seven metres, it was probably the top predator of its time, a primeval ruler of southern Wales.
High-tech particle physics reveals tiny predator
Even more spectacular was the second case: a reptile from the Middle Triassic period, found in Devon, that was barely a finger’s length long. Its skull measured barely a centimetre, and its teeth were so fine that three of them could fit on a millimetre, invisible to the naked eye.
Only a scan at the synchrotron in Grenoble, a particle accelerator that generates extremely high-energy light, made every detail visible. The analyses revealed that this was a new genus that specialised in insects. Its flat, chisel-like teeth were perfectly suited to breaking open the shells of beetle-like prey. The species was named Agriodontosaurus, the ‘saw-toothed reptile’.
Revolution through virtual palaeontology
Digital imaging has fundamentally changed fossil research. Modern micro-CT scanners, photogrammetry and synchrotron radiation enable:
- 3D models without touching fossils
- Insights into the interior of bones, teeth and shells
- Reconstructions of muscles, blood vessels and developmental stages
- Simulations of bite force and bone stress
Using finite element analysis, researchers can now calculate how skulls deform under pressure and thus reconstruct the hunting behaviour of extinct species. This method became famous in the analysis of the Tyrannosaurus rex, whose jaws could generate forces of up to 50,000 newtons. Enough to break bones like wood chips.
A science reinvents itself
What used to be hammers and chisels are now lasers, photons and high-performance software. Digital palaeontology opens doors to fossils that were previously considered ‘too small’, ‘too damaged’ or ‘inaccessible’. It enables museums to re-examine centuries-old finds and make them available worldwide, without any transport or risk.
Newtonsaurus cambrensis and Agriodontosaurus mark the beginning of a new chapter that shows that the greatest discoveries of prehistoric times no longer lie in the ground, but in digital space.
- Palaeontology: How modern imaging is rewriting dinosaur research - 25. October 2025
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