200 years after the first dinosaur, scientists use brain scans on a 100-million-year-old snake fossil from Brazil

Researchers used high-resolution micro-CT scanning on a 100-million-year-old snake fossil from Brazil to reconstruct its brain anatomy and lifestyle.

The study demonstrates a shift from examining fossil fragments to digitally reconstructing ancient creatures, enabling detailed evolutionary comparisons.

Modern scanning methods allow scientists to map nerve pathways and soft tissue structures that were previously unreachable from fossils alone.

The fossil discovery highlights how palaeontology has progressed from the 1824 description of Megalosaurus to non-destructive internal imaging.