Chigua reveals features hitherto undescribed in any American genus or species, for the specimens, which in most respects resemble Zamia, are unique in having leaflets with midribs and lateral veins, a characteristic formerly known only in Stangeria.
The main reason for this phenomenon is the presence of a relatively small number of causative infectious pathogens in the scraping specimens, which in many cases are non-viable for culture [ 13].
The holotype and only known specimen, which is in very poor condition, is preserved in the Museum d'Histoire Naturel de Neuchâtel as specimen MHNN 91.2426.
The 12 cadaver specimens were initially intended to form 3 equal groups, but the challenges faced with MRI settings required the use of an additional specimen, which resulted in unequal group sizes.
The roughness parameters for the bare metal specimen were very low due to the smoothness of the surface when compared to the blank specimen, which was in continuous reaction with the aggressive medium.
The specimen, which is in private hands, is set to go on display at the Parisian Museum of the History of Medicine, Charlier said. .
The snake specimen, which was discovered in the early 1900s years ago in northeastern Spain, was fossilized in a way that preserved the shapes and sizes of these pigment cells.
The thermal water lily was only successfully grown from seed in 2009, after the last living specimen, which had been in Germany, had died.
A split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system is used to exert the dynamic load to the rock specimen, which is placed in a specially designed holder.
The centrepiece of the exhibit is a suspended mounted Blue Whale skeleton, gleaned from the carcass of a partially mature specimen which washed ashore in the mid 1980s.
