The photomicrographs below are reflected light darkfield images of several thin sections made from a dinosaur (unknown species) fossil from the Cretaceous period that was recovered in Argentina. The Cretaceous period began 144 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago, at the beginning of the period marking the start of dinosaur extinction. This was the last period of the Mesozoic Era, and the general dinosaur population increased during much of this period.

Darkfield illumination digital images were captured using an Intel Play QX3 computer microscope modified for reflected light darkfield illumination. Oblique light was applied to the specimens using light pipes from a Dolan-Jenner Model 180 fiber optics illuminator containing a 150 watt projection lamp. The mixing chamber and diffusion screen were removed from the stage and a large piece of dark construction paper placed beneath the stage to avoid images of the paper being superimposed over the photomicrographs.

BACK TO THE DARKFIELD ILLUMINATION GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1995-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

The QX3 microscope design is copyrighted © 2022 by Mattel, Inc. Intel® Play™ is a registered trademark of the Intel Corporation. These companies reserve all of their rights and privileges under copyright law. The material contained in this website is solely the opinion of the authors and is intended for eduational use only.

Last Modification Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since December 24, 1999: 15830

Visit the official Intel Play website:

Visit the websites of our partners in education: