E.T. Lamm using the Buehler PetroThin Machine.
Museum of the Rockies Paleohistology Process is now in print!
CLICK for: Bone Histology Of Fossil Tetrapods : Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation
Editors - K. Padian & ET Lamm (UC Press - 2013)
Fossil material is embedded in resin, sectioned with diamond-bladed saws, mounted onto glass slides, and ground and polished until thin enough for light to reveal the exquisitely preserved microscopic structure.
CLICK for: Bone Histology Of Fossil Tetrapods : Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation
Editors - K. Padian & ET Lamm (UC Press - 2013)
Fossil material is embedded in resin, sectioned with diamond-bladed saws, mounted onto glass slides, and ground and polished until thin enough for light to reveal the exquisitely preserved microscopic structure.
1. OBTAIN SPECIMEN
Carefully extracting a sample from a dinosaur on display.
2. SPECIMEN PREPARATION
Molding the specimen to produce a cast to replace or restore the original fossil.
3. EMBEDDING
Vacuum embedding the specimen in plastic resin.
4. CUTTING
Trimming the block and cut thin wafers of embedded bone using a diamond-edged blade on a tile saw.
5. MOUNTING
Mounting a thin cut wafer of embedded bone onto a frosted glass slide with epoxy glue.
6. GRINDING AND POLISHING
Following rough grinding - using fine grain aluminum oxide to polish all scratches out of a mounted section.
7. EXAMINATION
Dr. Jack Horner using a polarized-light microscope to examine a thin-section slide.