Fossil skull sheds new light on transition from water to land

London: The first 3D reconstruction of the skull of a 360 million-year-old near-ancestor of land vertebrates shows such creatures were more like modern crocodiles than previously thought. The 3D skull, created by scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, England, differs from earlier 2D reconstructions. Because early tetrapods skulls are often 'pancaked' during the fossilisation process, these animals are usually reconstructed having very flat heads.

Using special software, the researchers 'digitally prepared' a number of Acanthostega specimens from East Greenland, stripping away layers of rock to reveal the underlying bones. Using information from other specimens, the bones were fitted together like puzzle pieces to produce the first 3D reconstruction of the skull of Acanthostega, with surprising results.