Research

Tea’s research integrates multiple analytical methods to reconstruct the biology of ancient vertebrates. By combining microscopic tissue analysis, non-invasive imaging, and detailed anatomical illustration, she builds comprehensive pictures of how early amniotes grew, fed, and evolved over the course of the Permian period — over 250 million years before the present day.

Method 01

Histology

Bone and dental histology involves preparing thin sections — slices of fossilized tissue only micrometers thick — that are examined under polarized light microscopy. Growth marks preserved within bone and dentine allow Tea to reconstruct the pace of growth, estimate ages at death, and infer physiological strategies in extinct animals. This technique has revealed remarkable variation in growth rates across Permian synapsids and has documented the structure of the earliest amniote skin.

Polarized light microscopy image of fossil bone thin-section showing growth rings

Method 02

Computed Tomography (CT)

High-resolution X-ray and neutron CT scanning allows Tea to virtually dissect fossil specimens without causing any physical damage. This non-destructive approach has been critical for imaging delicate internal structures — tooth crypts, replacement teeth, bone trabeculae, and even soft tissue impressions. In collaboration with facilities including ANSTO (Australia), Tea has applied neutron tomography to recover anatomical detail invisible to conventional imaging, yielding new taxa and previously undescribed anatomical features.

CT scan cross-section of early Permian fossil specimen showing internal dental structures

Method 03

Scientific Illustration

Scientific illustration serves as both a research tool and a communication medium. Tea produces detailed anatomical reconstructions — skeletal diagrams, life reconstructions, and histological maps — that synthesize complex morphological data into forms accessible to both specialists and the public. Illustration disciplines the observer: it demands a thoroughness of observation that often reveals features missed in written description alone. Her illustrations have appeared in journals including Science and Nature Communications.

Scientific illustration
coming soon