Scientists have used 3D printing technology to recreate a damaged and mislabeled fossil, a development that could open the door to using 3D printers to bring to life damaged or missing dinosaur bones and help us better piece together the skeletal structures of the ancient beasts.

According to Live Science, the fossil was wrapped in a plaster jacket more than 100 years ago when it was uncovered in 1909 in Halberstadt, Germany. Then, a bomb fell on the Museum of National History in Berlin during World War II, damaging the fossil and mixing it in with a different group of dinosaur fossils recovered from an expedition in Tanzania between 1909 and 1913. Many of the bones are still mixed together without hope of being reassigned, but Ahi Sema Issever, a radiologist at the Charité hospital in Berlin, planned to change all of that. 

Issever was able to map out what sort of bone was hidden in the plaster using a CT scan. However, the bones could not be removed safely, due to the fragile nature of the fossils, which are millions of years old. The bone was able to be accurately labeled, but Issever took things one step further by recreating the complete, undamaged bone using a 3D printer. Issever told EScience News that this method will be a boon to paleontologists looking to study fossils without risking damage:

"The most important benefit of this method is that it is non-destructive, and the risk of harming the fossil is minimal...Also, it is not as time-consuming as conventional preparation."

The scientist also points out how 3D printing can help the whole field of paleontology due to the ability to replicate rare fossils and expand the research potential for the field accordingly:

"The digital dataset and, ultimately, reproductions of the 3D print may easily be shared, and other research facilities could thus gain valuable informational access to rare fossils, which otherwise would have been restricted...Just like Gutenberg's printing press opened the world of books to the public, digital datasets and 3D prints of fossils may now be distributed more broadly, while protecting the original intact fossil."

Now that there's been a successful trial for 3D printing dinosaur bones, it will be interesting to see if recreated fossils replace the originals in museum displays so that they can be used for research rather than to entertain visitors.