Scan of the skeleton of Kapes and life restoration
Marta Zaher, University of Bristol.
The Triassic red rocks of the Devon coast around Sidmouth, some 240 million years old and pre-dating the earliest dinosaurs preserve fossil fishes, amphibians and reptiles, and a new specimen, uncovered with help from palaeontologists at the University of Bristol, shows distinct connections with Russia. The reptile, called Kapes , is a small lizard-like creature with a spiny skull. However, the fossil is delicate, and started to break up when its collector, Dr Rob Coram of Swanage, began to clean it up. Dr Coram said: "I tried everything I could. I have had a lot of experience of removing rock from fossils using a fine needle and working under the microscope. But this one was a nightmare. When I touched it with a needle, small pieces of bone fell off." Dr Coram contacted colleagues at the University of Bristol, and they arranged to make a CT scan.
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