1/21/97 Contact: Larry Witmer, 614-593-9489; witmer@smtp-mail.oucom.ohio.edu
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ATHENS, Ohio -- Scientists studying the fossils of
dinosaurs have a common frustration -- fossil records don't provide
all the information necessary to understand these animals'
physiology and behavior. An Ohio University researcher is hoping
to ease some of that frustration through a project that will allow
him to do CAT scans of some dinosaurs remains.
The effort, dubbed the "DinoNose" project, marks the first
time many of these dinosaurs have received such an examination,
said Larry Witmer, principal investigator on the project and
assistant professor of anatomy in biological sciences and the
College of Osteopathic Medicine at the university.
Witmer is hoping the CAT scan images will provide him
with information about soft tissues that aren't preserved in fossils.
The research is focusing on the nasal cavities of certain large-nosed
dinosaurs. Scientists suspect the larger nasal cavities in dinosaurs
such as brontosaurus and triceratops had a unique function.
Learning more about the region could provide a better
understanding of dinosaurs as living and breathing animals.
As part of the study, Witmer will examine the nasal cavities
of certain modern-day large-nosed animals, including elephants,
tapirs and moose, all in an effort to fill in gaps not preserved in
fossils.
"The fossils are the only testament we have, so they are
going to be a central portion of the research," Witmer said. "But
the fact is fossils preserve bones. They don't preserve directly, in
most cases, soft tissues."
Witmer has already done several CAT scans of dinosaur
skulls on loan from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in
Pittsburgh. All of the images will be taken by CAT scanners at
O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens.
The CAT scans will reveal, among other things,
information about the "bony signatures" left behind by organs,
muscles, nerves, arteries and veins. These signatures, or markings,
will help scientists recreate the position of some soft tissues in
dinosaurs.
"CAT scans provide so much more data than you can get
with a regular X-ray," said Jim Hatton, an imaging technologist at
O'Bleness who is working with Witmer on the project.
Doing a CAT scan of a dinosaur fossil isn't much different
from doing one on a human, Hatton said. The main difference is
that these fossils contain a lot of rock, which could skew Witmer's
findings from the images. To filter out the bone fragments, Hatton
increases the strength of the X-ray beams. Beyond that, few
modifications to the CAT scanner are necessary, Hatton added.
Witmer will do CAT scans of other dinosaurs during the
three-year project, including skulls on loan from the Smithsonian
Institute in Washington, D.C. and a mummified duck-billed
dinosaur, currently on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City.
Witmer's partner on the project, which is sponsored by the
National Science Foundation, is Scott Sampson of the New York
College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Cutline information: Ohio University researcher Larry
Witmer (left) and O'Bleness Memorial Hospital employee Jim
Hatton do a CAT scan of a skull of a diplodocus dinosaur.