Fukui Prefectural University, which focuses on dinosaur research, has announced that it has started research to analyze the structure of dinosaur fossils using medical CT scans in collaboration with Fukui University.
Fukui Prefectural University and Fukui University held a press conference on the 8th at Fukui University Hospital in Eiheiji Town, Fukui Prefecture, and released the state of research using medical CT scans actually used in hospitals.
The research team was analyzing the internal structure by applying X-rays to the fossil head of the large carnivorous dinosaur "Allosaurus".
Industrial CT scans, which emit strong X-rays, are often used in the study of dinosaur fossils, but their limited size makes analysis of large fossils difficult.
For this reason, using high-performance medical scans that can measure even larger sizes is expected to lead to the analysis of structures such as brains, nerves, and blood vessels of various types of fossils.
In the future, the two universities will analyze nearly 10 types of fossils, including the development of the nerves in the jaws of Allosaurus and the auditory structure of the herbivorous dinosaur Hypacrosaurus, hoping to elucidate the ecology of dinosaurs.
Associate Professor Soichiro Kawabe of the Prefectural University Dinosaur Research Institute, who is involved in the research, said, "Through the analysis of various specimens, I would like to clarify the ecology of dinosaurs and the abilities acquired in the process of evolution that could not be seen in conventional research." was