In June, Carol Anne Barsody, a master's student in archaeology, and Dr. Frederich Gleach, curator of the Anthropology Collections, brought an ancient Egyptian mummy bird back to #CornellVet for a bone extraction. They had collaborated earlier with the college to produce X-rays and radiographs of the mummy, assisted by imaging specialist Michael Haner.
Dr. Eric Ledbetter, professor of comparative ophthalmology and section chief of ophthalmology at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals, surgically created a small opening in the mummy. To minimize damage to the mummy, he used an operating microscope and microsurgical techniques and instruments, and also took advantage of a pre-existing defect in the wrappings to access the mummy's interior.
He then inserted a very small endoscope to find promising sampling sites. Using several long grasping surgical instruments, Ledbetter collected several samples, including bone and feathers.
The samples were then sent to the Lindo Ancient DNA Lab at Emory University, who were able to extract ancient aDNA, which is in queue to be sequenced.
Many thanks to: Carol Anne Barsody, Dr. Frederic Gleach, Dr. Eric C. Ledbetter & Paul Ebner, LVT.
---
Video: Amy S. Li/CVM
#MummyBird #Mummy