Using MicroCT to Identify Micro Snail Species

ABSTRACT

Thorn snails are small, fragile Ellobioidea-related snails that are an important component of leaf litter decomposition in stable environments. They increase biodiversity in the decomposition process and assist releasing nutrients into the soil, thus improving the health of vegetation. Studying these tiny snails and identifying new varieties helps researchers understand more about soil and plant development and how to improve the environmental landscape from an ecological perspective.

READ MORE on using micro-CT for species identification, from News-Medical.Net.

New micro-CT scanner allows inside view of even the tiniest fossils

ABSTRACT

Fossilized mammals, encased in hard rock, are rarely fully visible for scientific study but micro-CT nondestructive imaging preserves precious specimens — many of them tens of millions of years old. When analyzing a 45-million-year-old primate’s brain with micro-CT, researchers are able to look at the internal anatomy of the skull and gain insight into how its body structure differs from living primates.

READ MORE on using micro-CT for virtual dissection of fossils, from Science X,

MicroCT imaging applied to description of a new species of Pagurus Fabricius, 1775 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae), with selection of three-dimensional type data

ABSTRACT

“As one of the most powerful tools for generating three-dimensional (3D) illustrations, X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) is gaining popularity in taxonomy and morphological studies of various invertebrate animal groups.” This article describes a new species of hermit crab, Pagurus fraserorum, found from rocky subtidal reefs off KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. “The present description of P. fraserorum n. sp. is the first description of a hermit crab to use a larger set of characters illustrated by μCT scan reconstructions.”

READ MORE on using micro-CT for species identification, from PLOS ONE.