Piecing together the earliest complex tetrapod fauna

This proposal, a continuation of ES-1383, aims to study unique Devonian tetrapod fossils (359 million years old) from Greenland, collected during an expedition in 2024, by means of propagation phase contrast microtomography on Beamline BM18. Material collected in 2022 from the same locality has been studied in two preceding experiments at BM18 (ES-1383 and ES-1297) with outstanding results, revealing at least 5-6 new tetrapod genera and including the first examples of soft-tissue preservation ever recorded in Devonian tetrapods. The main aim of scanning the new material is to build up a comprehensive picture of the new tetrapods, by mapping overlapping data sets from partial skeletons that allow us to associate components (skulls, limb girdles, limb bones etc.) together correctly, so that we can describe, name and analyse them. The material to be scanned also includes the oldest known tetrapod coprolites (fossil faeces), which will provide the first direct evidence of their diet.