Karoo vertebrate Synchrotron scanning

We are applying for permission to export and scan at the ESRF (Grenoble, France) a range of archosaurian and synapsid fossils at the European Synchrotron and Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France. The ESRF is introducing a new and groundbreaking beamline, BM18, in 2022 and 2023. It is a large throughput high energy beamline that scan large specimens (up to 300kg). The ESRF and South Africa have a long and successful history of paleontological and paleoanthropological research, and South Africa stands to benefit greatly from the opening of this new facility. To commission BM18, the ESRF has invited certain high-profile experiments that are not subject to the normal proposal application system. As its long-standing partner, the ESRF has approached the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) with the opportunity to scan a number of scientifically important specimens as part of this process. The scientific inquiry into the fossils requested will involve a multi-national collaborative team, covering a wide range of research topics that will lead to student projects and peer-reviewed publications. The implementation of the beamline is in two stages, first scanning smaller specimens in 2022, and then in early 2023 scanning much larger specimens than have ever been feasibly scanned at a synchrotron (