Abstract
A dorsal rib portion from the post-cranial skeleton of a small ornithischian dinosaur discovered from the fossiliferous locality in Boseong was analyzed through Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Probe Microanalyser (EPMA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to determine the detailed microstructure and components of the fossilized dinosaur bone. The rib bone portion was specifically chosen as an initial research sample to establish efficient experimental methodology in order to apply to future dinosaur osteohistological study. Since the fossilized bone was highly compressed by the surrounding matrix, distinct features of bone tissues were not clearly visible in OM cross sections. Instead, we observed two other features: (1) numerous patches of calcite crystals in various orientations filling the void region; (2) apatite crystals of 10∼200 nm size constituting the bone matrix region, which is revealed by XRD, EPMA, SEM, and TEM. The data we have obtained so far is preliminary to directly elucidate the specific microstructural properties of fossilized bone such as bone formation and growth patterns, but we have provided possibility of revealing the characteristic features of dinosaur bone microstructure in nano-scale and established efficient specimen preparation methods for correlative Optical Microscopy (OM)-Electron Microscopy (EM) study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barreto, C., Heintz, J., Horner, J., and Albrecht, R., 2007, Original biomaterials preserved in dinosaur bone. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 13(Supplement 2), 52–53.
Biltz, R.M. and Pellegrino, E.D., 1969, The chemical anatomy of bone: I. A comparative study of bone composition in sixteen vertebrates. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 51, 456–466.
Chinsamy, A., 2005, The Microstructure of Dinosaur Bone — Deciphering Biology with Fine-Scale Techniques. John Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 40 p.
Dumont, M., Zoeger, N., Streli, C., Wobrauschek, P., Falkenberg, G., Sander, P.M., and Pyzalla, A.R., 2009, Synchrotron XRF analyses of element distribution in fossilized sauropod dinosaur bones. Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards, 24, 130–134.
Egerton, R.F. and Malac, P.Li.M., 2004, Radiation damage in the TEM and SEM. Micron, 35, 399–419.
Erickson, G.M., 2005, Assessing dinosaur growth patterns: a microscopic revolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20, 677–684.
Erickson, G.M., Rauhut, O.W.M., Zhou, Z., Turner, A.H., Inouye, B.D., Hu, D., and Norell, M.A., 2009, Was dinosaurian physi ology inherited by birds? Reconciling slow growth in Archaepteryx, PLoS One, 4, 1–9.
Glimcher, M.J., 2006, Bone: Nature of the calcium phosphate crystals and cellular, structural, and physical chemical mechanisms in their formation. In: Sahai N. and Schoonen M.A.A. (eds.), Medical Mineralogy and Geochemistry. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry, Vol. 64, p. 223–282.
Goodwin, M.B., Grant, P.G., Bench, G., and Holroyd, P.A., 2007, Elemental composition and diagenetic alteration of dinosaur bone: Distinguishing micron-scale spatial and compositional heterogeneity using PIXE. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 253, 458–476.
Hong, S.I., Hong, S.K., and Kohn D.H., 2009, Nanostructural analysis of trabecular bone. Journal of Materials Science-Materials in Medicine, 20, 1419–1426.
Huh, M., Lee, D-G., Kim, J-K., Lim, J-D., and Godefroit, P., 2011, A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of South Korea. Neues Jahrbuch f″ur Geologie und Pal″aontologie, Abhandlungen, 259, 1–24.
Huh, M., Paik, I-S., Park, J., Hwang, K-G., Lee, Y-I., Yang, S-Y, Lim, J-D., Lee, Y-U., Cheong, D-K., Seo, S-J., Park, K-H., and Moon, K-H. 2006, Occurrence of dinosaur eggs in South Korea. Journal of the Geological Society of Korea, 42, 523–547.
Hwang, I.J. and Cheong, C.S., 1968, Explanatory Text of the Geological Map of Boseong Sheet (1:50 000). Geological Survey of Korea, Seoul, 9 p.
Kim, C-B., Kim, J-M., and Huh, M., 2008, Age and stratification of dinosaur eggs and cluches from Seonso Formation, South Korea. The Journal of the Korean Earth Science Society, 29, 386–395.
Kim, J-G., Choi, J-H., Jeong, J-M., Kim, Y-M., Suh, I-H., Kim, J-P., and Kim, Y-J., 2007, Electron crystallography of CaMoO4 using high voltage electron microscopy. Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society, 28, 391–396.
Kim, J-G., Seo, J-W., Cheon, J., and Kim, Y-J., 2009, Rietveld analysis of nano-crystalline MnFe2O4 with electron powder diffraction. Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society, 30, 183–187.
Kim, J-G., Song, K., Kwon, K., Hong, K., and Kim, Y-J., 2010, Structure analysis of inorganic crystals by energy-filtered precession electron diffraction. Journal of Electron Microscopy, 39, 273–283.
Kolodny, Y., Luz, B., Sander, M., and Clemens, W.A., 1996, Dinosaur bones: Fossils or pseudomorphs? The pitfalls of physiology reconstruction from apatitic fossils. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 126, 161–171.
Laing, B., 2001, Thermoregulation in dinosaurs: A continued controversy. Biological Sciences, 136.
Martill, D.M. and Unwin, D.M., 1997, Small spheres in fossil bones: blood corpuscles or diagenetic products? Paleontology, 40, 619–624.
Olszta, M.J., Cheng, X., Jee, S.S., Kumar, R., Kim, Y.Y., Kaufman, M.J., Douglas, E.P., and Gower, L.B., 2007, Bone structure and formation: A new perspective. Material Science and Engineering R, 58, 77–116.
Organ, C.L. and Adams, J., 2005, The histology of ossified tendons in dinosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25, 602–613.
Paik, I-S., Huh, M., and Kim, H-J., 2004, Dinosaur egg-bearing deposits (Upper Cretaceous of Beseong, Korea: occurrence, palaeoenvironments, taphonomy, and preservation. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 205, 155–168.
Ricqlès, A., Padian, K., Knoll, F., and Horner, J.R., 2008, On the origin of high growth rates in archosaurs and their ancient relatives: Complementary histological studies on Triassic archosauriformes and the problem of a “phylogenetic signal” in bone histology. Annales de Palèontologie, 94, 57–76.
Sartori, A., Gatz, R., Beck, F., Rigort, A., Baumeister, W., Plitzko, J.M., 2004, Correlative microscopy: bridging the gap between fluorescence light microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy. Journal of Structural Biology, 160, 135–146.
Schweitzer, M.H., Avci, R., Collier, T., and Goodwin, M.B., 2008, Microscopic, chemical and molecular methods for examining fossil preservation. Comptes Rendus Paleovol, 7, 159–184.
Schweitzer, M.H., Wittmeyer, J.L, Horner, J.R., and Toporski, J.K., 2005, Soft-tissue vessels and cellular preservation in Tyrannosaurus rex. Science, 307, 1952–1955.
Showers, W.J., Barrick, R., and Bernard, G.., 2002, Isotopic analysis of dinosaur bones. Analytical Chemistry, 74, 142A–150A.
Starck, J.M. and Chinsamy, A., 2002, Bone microstructure and developmental plasticity in birds and other dinosaurs. Journal of Morphology, 254, 232–246.
Tzaphlidou, M., 2008, Bone architecture: Collagen structure and calcium/phosphorus maps. Journal of Biological Physics, 34, 39–49.
Wiener, S. and Traub, W., 1992, Bone structure: from angstroms to microns. The FASEB Journal, 6, 879–885.
Williams, D.B. and Carter, C.B., 2009, Transmission Electron Microscopy, 2nd edition. Springer, London, 760 p.
Wings, O., 2004, Authigenic minerals in fossil bones from the Mesozoic of England: poor correlation with depositional environments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 204, 15–32.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, JK., Huh, M., Lee, SG. et al. Preliminary study on dinosaur rib microstructure by applying correlative microscopy techniques. Geosci J 15, 225–235 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-001-0026-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-001-0026-1