Borealestes skull reconstructions

Digital reconstructions of the skulls of Borealestes serendipitus and Borealestes cuillinensis. Two small mouse-like mammals from the middle Jurassic of the Isle of Skye.

The Process:
The reconstruction process began with the micro-CT scanning and synchrotron scanning of the specimens at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The bones were digitally segmented out of the rock, and retrodeformed to fix damage from the fossilisation process. They were then placed into position in 3D space, and a base skull was sculpted around them. The sculpt was then refined using existing literature on related taxa.

Reconstructed, sculpted, retopologised, textured, baked, and rendered in Blender. Some maps post processed in Photoshop.

These reconstructions are based on fossil specimens that are part of the collections at National Museums Scotland - specimen numbers: NMS G.1992.47.121.1 and NMS G.2020.4.1.1- and are described in the paper: New species of mammaliaform and cranium of Borealestes (Mammaliformes: Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles (2021). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Find the paper here: https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa144/6118471?redirectedFrom=fulltext