Rowe, Timothy University of Texas, Austin $158,510 - 12 mos.
DLI-PHASE 2: A Digital Library of Vertebrate Morphology, Using High-Resolution X-ray CT
This is the first year funding of a three year continuing award. This project is an intensive application of high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography scanning (X-ray CT) to the study of the vertebrate skeleton. The instruments are derived from of medical diagnostic CT scanners, and enable the non-destructive inspection of tiny 3-dimensional objects in extremely fine detail. This project is a collaboration among 24 researchers at leading research universities and natural history museums around the world. The investigators will build a novel digital library of high-resolution X-ray CT images and 3-D models. The library will enable more detailed and comprehensive analyses of vertebrate structure than previously possible and be accessible to a globally networked audience of researchers, educators, and students. The project will study the skeleton in all of its forms, from fossils to embryos and adults of living species. The study will include broad taxonomic diversity of important laboratory and research species, and sample the smallest four orders of vertebrate size-magnitudes.
