Dumont, M.; Borbély, A.; Kostka, A.; Sander, P.M.; Kaysser-Pyzalla, A.; : Characterization of Sauropod bone structure. In: N. Klein, K. Remes and P.M. Sander [Ed.] : Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: understanding the life of giantsBloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2011 (Life of the past). - ISBN 978-0-253-35508-9, p. 150-169
Abstract:
This chapter describes the applications of some well established methods of materials science in the examination of sauropod bone microstructure. Fossilized bone is characterized here at different levels of hierarchy, from the macro level (at which bone can be separated into cortical and cancellous bone) to the nano level (at which the bone is composed of an assemblage of collagen and mineral particles), and then compared to bone of extant animals. X-ray diffraction and fluorescence analysis in combination with electron microscopy permit the quantification of the influence of diagenetic processes on fossilized bone. The chapter emphasizes that there are a multitude of investigative techniques well suited for bone analysis at the different structural levels. For an in-depth understanding of dinosaur bone structure and its global preservation state, however, a combination of the methods is necessary.