Secrets of ancient fossils revealed by Irish scientist

marco_polo

An interesting report in the times today, while I remain a healthy skeptic when it comes to science reporting in newspapers, if the technique is as effective as is being suggested, it certainly looks like a promising development for soft tissue studies of fossils.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sciencetoday/2009/1105/1224258087391.html

AN IRISH SCIENTIST has successfully recovered preserved muscle tissue from an 18 million-year-old fossilised salamander. The work raises the possibility of finding soft tissue on any fossilised bones, even dinosaurs, writes DICK AHLSTROM

The techniques could be applied to fossils of any age, says Dr Patrick Orr, of University College Dublin’s school of geological sciences. It was simply a matter of opening up the drawers and examining the fossils, but using very advanced equipment.

Orr recently published details of his work on the salamander fossils in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B , along with lead author and UCD geologist Dr Maria McNamara and collaborators at the University of Bristol and in Spain.