Sperm carriers in Silurian sea scorpions.

Invasion of the land by arachnids required adaptations of numerous organs, such as gills evolving into lungs, as well as mechanisms facilitating sperm transfer in a terrestrial environment. Many modern arachnids use spermatophores for this purpose, i.e. sperm transmitters detached from the body. Exceptionally preserved Silurian (423 Ma) fossils of Eurypterus tetragonophthalmus Fischer, 1839 (Chelicerata: Eurypterida) preserve so-called 'horn organs' which we here demonstrate as being equivalent to the spermatophore-producing parts of the genital tract in certain modern arachnids. This clarifies a long-running debate about sexing eurypterids based on the shape of the median abdominal (or genital) appendage. To our knowledge this is also the oldest direct evidence for spermatophore-mediated sperm transfer in the fossil record and suggests that eurypterids had evolved mating techniques using spermatophores as early as the Silurian, a valuable prerequisite for life on land. Spermatophores are absent in sea spiders (Pycnogonida) and horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura); thus the shared presence of sclerotized sperm-transfer devices in eurypterids and arachnids is a novel character, newly elucidated here, which offers explicit support for (Eurypterida + Arachnida). For this clade the name Sclerophorata n. nov. is proposed. Arachnida can be further defined by fusion of the originally paired genital opening.

Trilobite compound eyes with crystalline cones and rhabdoms show mandibulate affinities.

Most knowledge about the structure, function, and evolution of early compound eyes is based on investigations in trilobites. However, these studies dealt mainly with the cuticular lenses and little was known about internal anatomy. Only recently some data on crystalline cones and retinula cells were reported for a Cambrian trilobite species. Here, we describe internal eye structures of two other trilobite genera. The Ordovician Asaphus sp. reveals preserved crystalline cones situated underneath the cuticular lenses. The same is true for the Devonian species Archegonus (Waribole) warsteinensis, which in addition shows the fine structure of the rhabdom in the retinula cells. These results suggest that an apposition eye with a crystalline cone is ancestral for Trilobita. The overall similarity of trilobite eyes to those of myriapods, crustaceans, and hexapods corroborates views of a phylogenetic position of trilobites in the stem lineage of Mandibulata.

Fully experiment-based evaluation of few digital volume correlation techniques.

Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) is a powerful set of techniques used to compute the local shifts of 3D images obtained, for instance, in tomographic experiments. It is utilized to analyze the geometric changes of the investigated object as well as to correct the corresponding image misalignments for further analysis. It can therefore be used to evaluate the local density changes of the same regions of the inspected specimens, which might be shifted between measurements. In recent years, various approaches and corresponding pieces of software were introduced. Accuracies for the computed shift vectors of up to about 1‰ of a single voxel size have been reported. These results, however, were based either on synthetic datasets or on an unrealistic setup. In this work, we propose two simple methods to evaluate the accuracy of DVC-techniques using more realistic input data and apply them to several DVC programs. We test these methods on three materials (tuff, sandstone, and concrete) that show different contrast and structural features.

Relation between the Macroscopic Pattern of Elephant Ivory and Its Three-Dimensional Micro-Tubular Network.

Macroscopic, periodic, dark and bright patterns are observed on sections of elephant tusk, in the dentin part (ivory). The motifs-also called Schreger pattern-vary depending on the orientation in the tusk: on sections perpendicular to the tusk axis, a checkerboard pattern is present whereas on sections longitudinal to it, alternating stripes are observed. This pattern has been used to identify elephant and mammoth ivory in archeological artifacts and informs on the continuous tissue growth mechanisms of tusk. However, its origin, assumed to be related to the 3D structure of empty microtubules surrounded by the ivory matrix has yet to be characterized unequivocally. Based on 2D observations of the ivory microtubules by means of a variety of imaging techniques of three different planes (transverse, longitudinal and tangential to the tusk axis), we show that the dark areas of the macroscopic pattern are due to tubules oblique to the surface whereas bright areas are related to tubules parallel to it. The different microstructures observed in the three planes as well as the 3D data obtained by SR-µCT analysis allow us to propose a 3D model of the microtubule network with helical tubules phase-shifted in the tangential direction. The phase shift is a combination of a continuous phase shift of π every 1 mm with a stepwise phase shift of π/2 every 500 µm. By using 3D modeling, we show how the 3D helical model better represents the experimental microstructure observed in 2D planes compared to previous models in the literature. This brings new information on the origin of the unique Schreger pattern of elephant ivory, crucial for better understanding how archaeological objects were processed and for opening new routes to rethink how biological materials are built.

Flint arrowhead embedded in a human humerus from the Bronze Age site in the Tollense valley, Germany - A high-resolution micro-CT study to distinguish antemortem from perimortem projectile trauma to bone.

The Bronze Age site in the Tollense valley, Germany, has yielded thousands of human and animal bones and a number of archaeological artifacts. Several of the human bones exhibit blunt and sharp force lesions, and the assemblage has been interpreted as representing victims of a large scale conflict. One of the earliest finds is a human humerus with an embedded flint arrowhead. Alleged signs of healing initially reported for this humerus based on clinical CT imaging were interpreted as evidence of an antemortem lesion. The present study, using micro-CT imaging, revealed that the arrowhead lesion in the humerus, contrary to the previous interpretation, shows no signs of healing. The structure previously assumed to represent a sclerotic margin around the wound canal was shown to actually represent compacted trabecular debris. Thus, our re-analysis of the specimen led to a re-classification of the arrow wound as a perimortem lesion. The findings of the present study demonstrate the value of micro-CT imaging as a non-destructive method for obtaining information on the nature of bone lesions and healing reactions critical for the reconstruction of interpersonal conflict scenarios in the past.