Meeting Abstract
Micro-CT scanning has ushered in a new era of visualization for investigators of small vertebrate fossils. Previously, the study of small, fragile fossils, especially those embedded in matrix, required the time consumptive and often deleterious process of micro-preparation to reveal their structures, followed by light microscopy for analysis. These techniques can be damaging to delicate structures such as those found in a snake skull. They also can fail to reveal internal morphology that can be vital for systematic assignments and morphological analysis. Additionally, physical preparation may not even be possible or advisable when a specimen is composed of many articulated bones, as in the many cranial and vertebral elements of an ophidian. The benefits of this technique are demonstrated here, with the full preparation and 3D visualization of a new genus and species of snake from exposures of the Oligocene White River Formation in Wyoming, USA. Features of the internal braincase, the shape of fragile elements like the septomaxilla, and the tracts of the cranial nerves are revealed with this technique for the first time in an extinct ophidian. The 3D models also provide a much greater capacity for future studies, providing broad access to prepared specimens by serving as a digital replica for a specimen that cannot be seen in person or that is too small to cast.
