The endoskeletons of brachiopods are fragile and typically 'lost' during sample preparation. X-ray computed tomography is a non-invasive imaging technique, which allowed us to visualize entire brachiopod skeletons for the first time.

3D data is great as it helps us to visualize and understand more easily complex tissues architectures in comparison to 2D sections and images. But how can you see 3D data? I created a '3D Brachiopoda data bank' – embedded in an interactive PDF file.

We applied computed tomography to investigate the diversity of the ancient marine fauna. Through this non-invasive scanning technique we revealed species-specific morphological characters in millions of years old brachiopod shells. This study is published on an awarded poster in the Museum of Natural History Berlin, Germany.