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SUMMARY:High-throughput synchrotron X-ray imaging of extant and fossil ins
 ects - Thomas van de Kamp (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
DTSTART:20190129T130000Z
DTEND:20190129T140000Z
UID:TALK117517@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:77596
DESCRIPTION:Synchrotron-based X-ray imaging has become an established meth
 od for the examination of small animals and X-ray microtomography in parti
 cular is an important tool for non-destructive 3D imaging of insects. The 
 imaging station of the KIT Synchrotron Radiation Facility is optimized for
  fast X-ray imaging and includes a high-speed detector system and a sample
  change robot. The setup facilitates high-throughput experiments and 3D di
 gitization of large numbers of insects in a single experiment. Despite fas
 ter acquisition times\, image analysis is often still challenging and time
 -consuming. Especially a manual segmentation of tomographic volumes is ext
 ensive and the results often show unwanted artifacts. By employing semi-au
 tomated tools\, image analysis can be accelerated and improved.\n\nRecent 
 experiments demonstrate the value of fast X-ray imaging for the digitizati
 on and 3D analysis of both extant and fossil insects. Interactive 3D recon
 structions based on tomography data allowed analyzing motion systems and t
 he elytra of beetles proved to be interesting role models for biomimetic d
 esign. When studying 34-million-year-old mineralized insects from the fiss
 ure fillings of the Quercy region in France\, we found that these fossils 
 might contain well-preserved morphological characters\, allowing species d
 escriptions and phylogenetic analyses as done for extant specimens. A firs
 t study revealed the detailed anatomy of a hister beetle inside a stone ma
 trix. In the following\, we\nexamined more than 1\,500 fly pupae from the 
 same locality and identified exceptionally preserved parasitoid wasps\, pr
 oviding both morphological and ecological data.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology \, Downing Street
 \, CB2 3EJ
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