The use of modern digital imaging methods for the creation of a virtual skull model from a paleontological find of one of the most basal reptiles

Investigators: Jozef Klembara, Miroslav Hain

Using modern digital imaging methods – photogrammetric scanning and virtual 3D imaging, the only known specimen of the early eureptile Coelostegus prothales from the Upper Carboniferous of the Czech Republic was described. Using these modern digital 3D imaging methods, new, highly detailed information on the structure of the individual bones of the skull and mandible was obtained, allowing the creation of a complete virtual model of its skull. To evaluate the relatedness of Coelostegus prothales, this taxon was coded using two recently published morphological character matrices. Parsimony and Bayesian analyses did not allow firm conclusions on the phylogenetic position of Coelostegus.
The knowledge gained on the anatomical structure of one of the most basal reptiles is an important scientific contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the earliest amniotes, which is also of far-reaching importance for the understanding of the transition of life from aquatic to terrestrial environments.
The results of the work have been published in the prestigious scientific journal PLoS ONE (Q1).

Projects: VEGA 1/0228/19, VEGA 1/0191/21, APVV-22-0328 (METIM)

Publication:

• KLEMBARA, Jozef – RUTA, M. – ANDERSON, J. – MAYER, T. – HAIN, Miroslav – VALAŠKA, D. A review of Coelostegus prothales Carroll and Baird, 1972 from the Upper Carboniferous of the Czech Republic and the interrelationships of basal eureptiles. In PLoS ONE, 2023, vol. 18, no. 9, art. no. e0291687. ISSN 1932-6203. (3.7 – IF2022) Q1     https://journals.plos.org/plos  one/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0291687