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Primate Phenotypes: A Multi-Institution Collection of 3D Morphological Data Housed in MorphoSource
Sergio Almécija1,2,3, Kelsey D Pugh4,5,6, Alisha Anaya7
1American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology, New York, NY, USA. salmecija@amnh.org.
Scientific Data
|December 18, 2024
Summary
This study presents a large primate skeletal morphology dataset with over 6,000 3D scans from 386 specimens. This freely available phenomics data supports future research and collection archiving.
Area of Science:
- Primate phenomics
- Morphological quantification
- 3D imaging
Background:
- Phenomics is advancing rapidly due to 3D imaging and data sharing.
- Primate skeletal morphology data is crucial for evolutionary and biological studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create and share an extensive 3D primate skeletal morphology dataset.
- To validate the comparability of 3D models from diverse digitizing devices.
- To provide a roadmap for digital archiving in natural history collections.
Main Methods:
- Digitization of >6,000 primate specimens using 3D scanning.
- Technical validation of 3D model (mesh) comparability.
- Data curation and metadata association.
Main Results:
- A comprehensive dataset of 3D scans for 386 primate specimens (all hominoids except humans) was generated.
- Diverse 3D scanning devices produced comparable morphometric data.
- The dataset and metadata are freely accessible via MorphoSource.
Conclusions:
- The primate phenomics dataset empowers future research.
- This initiative establishes a model for digitizing and archiving biological collections.
