When South African researchers needed to look deep into the skull and body of a dinosaur, they sent the fossil for x-rays at the European Synchroton (ESRF) in France. Proof Africa supported the project through tactical communication in the South African media.

Small plant-eating Heterodontosaurus Tucki has been extinct for about two million years. The most complete fossil yet found was discovered ten years ago in South Africa, but its skeleton was too fragile and the surrounding rock too hard for its anatomy to be studied without expert help from ESRF.

Palaeo-scientists from the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits University are now using ESRF’s x-rays to study how this ancient species ate, moved and breathed.

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