Diffraction-Enhanced Imaging for studying pattern recognition in cranial ontogeny of bats and marsupials

The key to understanding evolution lies in the elucidation of mechanisms responsible for the observed underlying patterns and in the observation of sequences that emerge from those evolutionary landmarks. The comparative development can be used to access the derivation of form and the homology versus the convergence of evolution features. Phylogenetic and biological homologies are necessary to discern the evolutionary origins of these features. This work examined the patterns of cranial formation in pre-born bat specimens as well as post-born opossum by means of microradiography and Diffraction-Enhanced Radiography (DER) techniques. A direct conversion CCD camera was used to provide micrometer spatial resolution in order to acquire highly detailed density images. This technique allows the observation of structures, in early stages of development, which were impossible to be observed with traditional techniques, such as clearing and staining. Some cranial features have been described for adults in the literature, but the detailed description of the appearance sequence of those features in these species is still unknown and obscure. Microradiography and diffraction-enhanced imaging can improve quality of morphological detail analysis and permit the identification of anatomical landmarks that are useful in comparative studies and are still unknown in both species. In this study, we access evolution features in cranial morphology of bats and marsupials using both X-ray techniques.