Fossil Brain Technology
The fossil record holds little physical evidence to reveal what the brains of extinct species were like. Paleontologists study the skulls of these long dead creatures, putting pieces together like jigsaw puzzles to reconstruct the shape and physical contours of the long decayed brain.
The study requires careful observation and calculation along with ever improving technological tools to learn the secrets held by fossil skulls. New measuring and imaging tools allow the reconstruction of fossil brains.
Other People Are Reading
-
Paleoneurology
-
The paleoneurologist studies the evolution of the brain. Paleoneurology combines neurology and paleontology to try and determine the evolution of the brain. The paleoneurologist uses the physical and virtual reconstructions of the fossil brain to reveal the volume and size of the hominid brain in comparison to the brain of modern humans.
The convolution patterns and blood supply patterns revealed in the reconstruction help the scientist to study how the brain has evolved. According to Columbia University Anthropology Department studying fossil brains reveals the increase in brain size as well as the reorganization of the cerebral cortex.
Natural Endocasts
-
Natural endocasts occur when the skull is filled with sediment which is then fossilized along with the skull. Mammalian and avian fossil skulls used to makes plaster casts of the animal’s brain produce very accurate reproductions of the brain. According to Harry J. Jerison of UCLA endocasts of reptile and other vertebrate brains are not as representative because their brains do not completely fill the brain cavity.
-
Plaster Endocasts
-
Often the first step in studying the brain of an extinct creature is to reconstruct the skull. The inside of a fossilized skull holds a record of what the creature’s brain looked like.
Paleontologists can make a model of the fossil brain by making an endocast. Fossil skulls are carefully cleaned and a plaster cast is made of the skull interior. The cast, essentially a model of the animal’s brain, displays the size, volume, shape and surface features of the brain.
The Hobbit
-
In 2003, the human family tree gained a fascinating new branch. Paleontologists working on the Indonesian Island of Flores unearthed the bones of an adult female hominid three feet tall. Along with the bones were stone tools and evidence of the use of fire. She was immediately dubbed the Hobbit.
The Hobbit skull was studied in detail with computer aided tomography to create a virtual cast of her brain. By comparing the virtual brain cast with other healthy and microcephalic brain casts the Hobbit was shown to be a previously unknown species of hominid.
CT Scanning
-
According to Exploratorium, The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception, computer tomography works by scanning the skull with a rotating X-ray beam. The skull is scanned in sections called slices.
The data from the X-ray CT scan is then combined by sophisticated computer programs to create a three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of the fossil brain.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit the skull of the giant reptile image by Natalia Pavlova from Fotolia.com blue brain image by John Sfondilias from Fotolia.com
