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X-ray imaging for palaeontology

Bundenbachfossilien, D-64686 Lautertal, Germany

Foreword. While being dimly aware that X-rays are used in far more applications than I would ever be familiar with, I was, in my ignorance, startled when I first saw some of the beautiful fossil images obtained by Peter Hohenstein. Here certainly was a field of "radiology" of which I did not even know the existence. The images are certainly arresting but, other than in the pursuit of something aesthetically pleasing, the reasons why they were ever taken eluded me. My ignorance went deeper than this. How could successful fossil X-rays be taken at all, even of a vertebrate creature? The calcium of the bones would surely have been leached away; and might not slate itself be a good enough absorber of X-rays to "hide" almost anything within? What is "slate" precisely anyway, in chemical terms, and of course, what energy X-rays had been used? Peter Hohenstein explained these things patiently and I thought his beautiful work deserved a wider audience. There are, after all, precedents for the publication of non-clinical material. In a recent issue of Radiology, for example, readers were treated to a CT study of bowed stringed instruments [1]. Peter Hohenstein's work offers us an opportunity to step back some 400 million years and examine some of our ancestors.

P Dawson

Department of Radiology

University College London Hospitals

Mortimer Street

London WIT 3AA

Abstract. Few may be aware that X-ray imaging is used in palaeontology and has been used since as early as 1896. The X-raying, preparation and exposure of Hunsrück slate fossils are described. Hospital X-ray machines are used by the author in his work. An X-ray is vital to provide evidence that preparation of a slate is worthwhile as well as to facilitate preparation even if there is little external sign of what lies within. The beauty of the X-ray exposure is an added bonus.