Paleontologists are excited by the 110-million-year-old new species of lizard in a piece of amber found recently in a mine in Myanmar, according to Sci-News.com.
The piece of amber with a well-preserved juvenile Retinosaurus hkamtiensis was recovered from the Hkamti District at Patabum, in close proximity of the Jade mines in the northern Myanmar Central Basin, the scientific magazine site reports.
The specimen was analyzed through a CT scan, which allowed the paleontologists to create 3D renderings of the lizard.
“We had the rare opportunity to study not only an articulated skeleton but also the external appearance of the lizard, the scales, in the same way that herpetologists study current species,” Dr. Juan Diego Daza, a researcher at the Sam Houston State University, told the magazine.
“Although digital models generated from computed tomography data can never completely replace the physical objects they represent, they can increase access to museum specimens,” Dr. Edward Stanley, a researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History, added.