MorphoSource

MorphoSource houses and shares 3D morphological data of primate specimens to facilitate collaborative research in phenomics.

Key Features:

• 3D Data Repository: Provides storage for digitized specimens from multiple institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of Natural History, the Royal Museum for Central Africa, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Stony Brook University.
• Open Data Access: Makes entire datasets and detailed associated metadata freely available to researchers.
• Cross-Device Compatibility: Enables combination of 3D models (meshes) produced from diverse digitizing devices for comparable morphometric data collection.

Scientific Applications:

• Primate Phenomics: Supports morphological quantification and analysis of skeletal morphologies across hominoid genera and other selected primates.
• Comparative Morphometrics: Allows researchers to collect comparable morphometric data from combined 3D models for cross-species analysis.
• Digital Archiving: Provides a model for future digitization and archiving of digital data from other collections.

Methodology:

3D scanning of physical specimens using diverse digitizing devices to produce 3D models (meshes), with technical validation to ensure combinability for morphometric data collection.