One of the paramount mysteries of paleontology are the ludicrously small arms of the T. Rex. But plans are in process to investigate with new technology, as Hannah Gavin reports on the D-brief blog of Discovery Magazine:
Carmen Soriano, a resident paleontologist at Argonne, will use a technique called X-ray micro-tomography to examine [A T. Rex named] Sue’s arm, which was removed from her fossil skeleton last week at the Field Museum and temporarily transported to Argonne.
Just like computed tomography (CT) scans at hospitals, this method captures a series of X-ray images and assembles them into a holistic 3-D representation. Importantly, this technique is non-invasive: Just as sections of the brain can be analyzed by CT scan without cutting into a skull, Sue’s priceless arm can be scanned without slicing it to bits.
So many theories, so few facts. Even “totally useless” is a theory that gets tossed around.
How about “wrong arm”?
I look forward to the conclusions.
