Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Allosaurus, computer tomography
Abstract
In 2001, an Allosaurus skull (CMP 279) was discovered in the Skull Creek Basin in Moffat County, Colorado. The skull is one of the most complete for the species and even contains the hyoid bones, which are usually not present. The skull is now permanently mounted, for display purposes, thus making the study of the individual bones difficult for producing a paleo-anatomical description. Computed Tomography (CT) scans of CMP 279 were created in 2017 and then made available for this study in 2019. CT scans are being used to investigate internal anatomy of skulls such as the endocranial cavity, sinuses, or foramina for nerve endings. This approach to using CT scans for skull analyses is becoming popular and, when combined with observations from the actual specimen, a comprehensive description can be derived. The program used for this study was myVGL Viewer. The program allows scans to be viewed in the frontal (anterior-posterior), median (medial-lateral) and transverse (dorsal-ventral) planes at the same time, and a 3-D rendering of the skull. The scans indicate exact known placement of sutures. For example, the mandibular sutures can be difficult to determine by physical examination of the specimen, but through the use of the scans they can be clearly identified. The scans also give access to bones that are unreachable because of the display-mounting of the actual skull, an example being the palatine complex. Additionally, internal anatomy like the endocranial cavity from the scans reveal the lobes and cranial nerves within the brain. CT scans have provided a high-tech approach to doing detailed analysis of CMP 279 which, in turn, will facilitate a detailed description that is important in understanding the anatomy and diversity of Allosaurus genera.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center Lobby
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-3-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
4-3-2019 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Using CT Scans to Describe an Allosaurus Skull (Dinosauria: Theropoda)
Cedarville, OH
In 2001, an Allosaurus skull (CMP 279) was discovered in the Skull Creek Basin in Moffat County, Colorado. The skull is one of the most complete for the species and even contains the hyoid bones, which are usually not present. The skull is now permanently mounted, for display purposes, thus making the study of the individual bones difficult for producing a paleo-anatomical description. Computed Tomography (CT) scans of CMP 279 were created in 2017 and then made available for this study in 2019. CT scans are being used to investigate internal anatomy of skulls such as the endocranial cavity, sinuses, or foramina for nerve endings. This approach to using CT scans for skull analyses is becoming popular and, when combined with observations from the actual specimen, a comprehensive description can be derived. The program used for this study was myVGL Viewer. The program allows scans to be viewed in the frontal (anterior-posterior), median (medial-lateral) and transverse (dorsal-ventral) planes at the same time, and a 3-D rendering of the skull. The scans indicate exact known placement of sutures. For example, the mandibular sutures can be difficult to determine by physical examination of the specimen, but through the use of the scans they can be clearly identified. The scans also give access to bones that are unreachable because of the display-mounting of the actual skull, an example being the palatine complex. Additionally, internal anatomy like the endocranial cavity from the scans reveal the lobes and cranial nerves within the brain. CT scans have provided a high-tech approach to doing detailed analysis of CMP 279 which, in turn, will facilitate a detailed description that is important in understanding the anatomy and diversity of Allosaurus genera.
