Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 July 2017
The importance of serial sections for the analysis of the morphology of fossil organisms has been stressed by a number of authors (e.g., Westbroek, 1967, 1969; Cooper, 1983; Sandy, 1986, this volume, Chapter 14) because they provide a way to visualize the three-dimensional structure, both internal and external, of specimens that cannot be studied in other ways. The importance of internal structures for the taxonomy of many groups (e.g., the brachidia of brachiopods; Westbroek et al., 1976; Cooper, 1983) makes the study of serial sections imperative in many cases for proper taxonomic identification.