Overview

• Powerful synchrotron X-rays generated at the Canadian Light Source allowed researchers to create detailed 3D models of Scotty’s rib without damaging the 66-million-year-old fossil.
• High-resolution scans revealed a network of preserved blood vessel–like structures in a healed fracture, indicating robust bone-healing capacity in Tyrannosaurus rex.
• Chemical analysis identified the elemental and molecular makeup of the vessel remnants, enabling hypotheses on how soft tissues endure over millions of years.
• The multidisciplinary study was led by Ph.D. student Jerit L. Mitchell and published in Scientific Reports in July 2025, involving teams from the University of Regina, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum the CanaCanadian Light Source.
• These findings provide a new target for locating soft tissues in other fossils and establish a framework for comparing injury repair across extinct dinosaurs and living birds and reptiles.