Palaeontologists from Flinders University in Australian are using a micro-CT scanner and 3D printing to reconstruct a small dinosaur preserved as opal for more than 100 million years.

The researchers are using the latest technology to look inside lumps of white sandstone rock that contain the opal remains of a small dinosaur.

The dinosaur in question is a small， running herbivore from Lightning Ridge in New South Wales， which was saved for science back in 2019.

“Once we have reconstructed the scans into 3D virtual models， we can print them out with a 3D printer so we can see the bones still hidden inside the rock，” said lead researcher Paul Willis.

澳大利亞弗林德斯大學(xué)的古生物學(xué)家們正在使用微型CT掃描儀和3D打印技術(shù)重現(xiàn)一種作為蛋白石保存了1億多年的小恐龍。

研究人員正在使用最新的技術(shù)來觀察白色砂巖塊內(nèi)部，這些巖塊內(nèi)的蛋白石有小恐龍殘骸。

這只恐龍是一種小型的奔跑食草龍，來自新南威爾士州的萊寧山脊，早在2019年就被保存下來供科學(xué)研究使用。

該研究的首席研究員保羅·威利斯說：“一旦我們將掃描結(jié)果重建成3D虛擬模型，我們就可以用3D打印機(jī)打印出來，這樣我們就可以看到仍然隱藏在巖塊中的骨骼。”

Willis said all fossil specimens were “priceless” to palaeontologists and using the latest technology would help improve performance of understanding the ancient animals story.

Willis said scans of some of the pieces showed the bone inside was preserved in exquisite detail.

“Not only do the scans allow us to better understand exactly what we have as a dinosaur skeleton， they will be an invaluable aid to the next stage of studying this specimen，” he said.

“Prior to using scans on specimens like this， the removal of surrounding rock was a very much difficult job.”

“Now we can do that with more confidence because we know where the rock stops and the bone starts.”

Only 20 per cent of the specimens have been scanned so far. Once complete， a detailed study of the skeleton， assisted by the scan data， will reveal if this is a new species of dinosaur， as well as details about how it lived and died.

威利斯說，所有的化石標(biāo)本對古生物學(xué)家來說都是“無價(jià)的”，使用最新的技術(shù)將有助于更高效地了解古生物的故事。

威利斯說，對一些巖塊進(jìn)行的掃描顯示，里面的骨頭保存得相當(dāng)完好。

他說：“這些掃描結(jié)果不僅讓我們更好地了解恐龍骨骼的確切情況，還將為下一階段研究該標(biāo)本提供寶貴的援助?！?/p>

“在對這類標(biāo)本進(jìn)行掃描前，移除周圍的巖石是一項(xiàng)非常困難的工作。”

“現(xiàn)在我們可以更有信心地做這件事，因?yàn)槲覀冎滥睦锸菐r石，哪里是骨頭?！?/p>

到目前為止，只有20%的標(biāo)本被掃描過。一旦完成，在掃描數(shù)據(jù)的協(xié)助下，對骨骼的詳細(xì)研究將揭示這是不是一種新的恐龍物種，以及它是如何生存和死亡的細(xì)節(jié)。

Word Bank

opal /'??pl/ n. 蛋白石；貓眼石

specimen /'spes?m?n/ n. 樣本；標(biāo)本

exquisite /?k'skw?z?t/ adj. 精美的；精致的

The room was decorated in exquisite taste.