APPLICATIONS OF RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

The techniques described herein, although largely illustrated with well-understood biomineralized taxa, have been developed to elucidate the morphology of the essentially soft-bodied organisms that dominate the Herefordshire fauna (such as Acaenoplax hayae, Figure 10-Figure 11, see also Sutton et al. 2001), and provide the primary means for palaeontological studies. However, they are easily adapted to other situations and essentially require only that the fossil preserves three-dimensional form and is visually distinguishable from matrix. Despite the destructive nature of grinding we thus expect that similar applications, whose main goal is simply to determine morphology, will arise in other situations where isolation of the fossils in question is impractical.

These techniques also have broader potential applications within palaeontology. Virtual models of fossils are useful tools for the dissemination of morphological information, as they contain more information than static images, yet can be copied, distributed, and viewed quickly and at minimal cost. Applications in education can be envisaged as a means of familiarizing students with morphology of fossils, particularly where material is too large, small, or rare to be physically manipulated. Computer-based models may also prove to be an efficient way of conveying morphology to professional palaeontologists, particularly those less familiar with the group in question. These techniques might also provide a methodology for capturing morphological information as a prelude to further computer-based modelling work. Such studies might include the reconstruction of skeletal structures (e.g., conodont feeding apparatus) from isolated material, the illustration of theoretical models of unpreserved soft parts (e.g., brachiopod musculature), and studies of functional morphology that require digital models (e.g., finite element stress analysis).