Sprecher
Beschreibung
Historical fossil collections are of fundamental importance for biological and palaeontological research. It is often assumed that such old collections have already been studied so thoroughly as to leave little to be discovered. However, with the advent of new methodologies, such as X-ray tomography, epifluorescence, or Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM), it is now possible to retrieve more information from historical specimens often in a non-destructive manner, leading to unexpected insights and hypotheses on already described and studied material.
Here, I will present a few examples of new methods allowing the reinterpretation of historical material, focusing on fossils from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina and North America. In particular, I will show the potential that epifluorescence and CLSM have in resolving the affinities of fossil foliage and in discovering new structures in situ, such as in planta resin or thin or fragile cuticle that is impossible to obtain via traditional maceration techniques. I will then discuss the implications that these new discoveries have for material present in collections around the world, and how many new findings are still hidden on collection shelves.