Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T14:04:30.055Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Identifying moa gastroliths using a video light scattering instrument

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Roger G. Johnston ,
William G. Lee  and
W. Kevin Grace
Roger G. Johnston
Affiliation:
1Chemical and Laser Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS J565, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
William G. Lee
Affiliation:
2Landcare Research NZ Ltd., Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand
W. Kevin Grace
Affiliation:
1Chemical and Laser Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS J565, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

When not found with fossil bone, gastroliths (fossil gizzard stones) may be hard to identify. One attribute that is potentially useful is their high degree of surface polish, presumably caused by abrasion in the animal's gizzard. A novel video laser light scattering instrument is used to characterize the surface roughness of suspected moa gastroliths, as well as similar (non-gastrolith) quartz rocks that were polished by ocean waves. The instrument is fairly successful at distinguishing between the two types of samples.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 68 , Issue 1 , January 1994 , pp. 159 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, A. 1989. Prodigious Birds: Moas and Moa-hunting in Prehistoric New Zealand. Cambridge University Press, New York, 238 p.Google Scholar
Baker, A. A. 1956. The swallowing of stones by animals. The Victorian Naturalist, 73:82–95.Google Scholar
Beckmann, P., and Spizzichino, A. 1987. The Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves from Rough Surfaces. Artech, Norwood, Massachusetts, 503 p.Google Scholar
Bennett, J., and Mattsson, L. 1990. Scattering from Rough Surfaces. Optical Society of America, Washington, D.C., 109 p.Google Scholar
Harrison, V. G. W. 1949. Gloss. Chemical Publishing Company, New York, 151 p.Google Scholar
Johnston, R. G., Manley, K., and Lemanski, C L. 1990. Characterizing gastrolith surface roughness with light scattering. Optics Communications, 74:279–283.Google Scholar
Manley, K. 1991. Two techniques for measuring surface polish as applied to gastroliths. Ichnos, 1:313–316.Google Scholar
Stokes, W. L. 1987. Dinosaur gastroliths revisited. Journal of Paleontology, 61:1242–1246.Google Scholar