DINOSAUR RESEARCH IN
HAWKESBURY

In May 2002, Mélanie Villeneuve, received permission from Pierre Laviolette of the ESRH High School to use two microscopes for her research on four types of bones.

Firstly, the research focused on histology : a science that refers to slice of bones and observations of tissus under the microscope.

The research begin with beef bone slice and the results were a lot better than expected.  I used  my camera to take a picture of the microscope observations.  The picture of the piece of beef bone came out of the photo laboratory with great details just as seen under the microscope.

The following week, I observed chicken bone slice under the microscope.  However, chicken bones are more dense and filthy, the observations showed nearly no details, but just a shadow of a mass.

Later, I decided to get a bone slice from an Emu (Ostrich-related bird) vertebrae.  The pieces revealed the hollow bones just like in other birds and dinosaurs.

Finally, I brought a Centrosauridae (horned Dinosaur species) rib fragment from a friend’s laboratory and cut off a small piece and put it under the microscope.  The school’s microscope could magnify the bones two hundred and fifty (250 x) times it’s original size.  For the dinosaur bone piece, I could see some blurry details, but I new I needed a stronger microscope to see this dinosaur bone to it’s full capacity with all details. 

I contacted the Laboratory of the Hawkesbury General Hospital and got permission to use their microscope.  I brought with me the Emu and dinosaur specimen slice fragment for observations.  I could see many details as I magnified the bone slice a thousand times (1000x).  Again, I took some pictures with my camera through the lens of the microscope hoping for good results.  I draw the details on observations sheets in case the pictures would not turn out.  Through my observations, I identified osteocytes, Harvesian canals and growth lines.  According to my observations, Centrosauridae were cold-blooded dinosaurs but they had a mechanism that accelerated the growth to attained almost the same growth speed as mammals.  However, no clue of what was this mechanism, with only bones to solve the mystery, it might be impossible to find out what was this mechanism.  One might suggest hormonal process.

As for when the pictures came out of the photo laboratory, I found out astonishing facts.  I quickly ran to the library in Hawkesbury and looked for physiological and anatomical books, were I begin research on histology both through books and the Internet.

What I found out is that the dinosaur bone picture taken at the Hospital Laboratory showed two nodule-like pieces that were identified as bone cells in the physiology books.  I wonder what is the importance of finding dinosaur bone cells.  They are not blood cells, but bone cells.

 

Certainly, this research results were amazing.  At first, this research on histology was just to get me used to microscope research and to learn more with hands on specimens of histology.  I am hoping to take this picture with me to either Ottawa University or McGill University in order to have a second opinion about the bone cells identification and the multiple questions that fills my head about this discovery.

Meanwhile, for future projects, I am now mounting a moose skeleton and will be presenting the exhibit for one school year at the St-Jean Baptiste elementary school.