A few of the latter were still in the egg and about to hatch…but never did. Most were “cleared and stained,” but some just sat in our collection. I also was able to return with complete growth series of embryos up through yearlings, which were fixed in formalin and stored in ethanol. Way back in 1990, while still a doctoral student, I made multiple trips to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana to work with Ruth Elsey to obtain alligator heads for my research. Our wee day-0 gatorling (OUVC 10606) perched within the bony nostril of the skull (OUVC 9634) of a 12-foot alligator. We’ve been hosting 3D PDFs since 2007 with our work on the dinosaur Majungasaurus, where we even came up with a little 3D PDF tutorial (we’ve got a new one in the works). Download the small size to check it out, or download the large size to really get to work. We provide each 3D PDF in three sizes so that users can match their interest and computer’s graphical power with our offerings. The beauty of 3D PDFs is that they provide any user with the high-end capabilities that we enjoy with our expensive software: the skull can be spun around in all directions and zoomed in and out individual bones or soft tissues can be turned on or off, made transparent, or viewed individually or in combination with other bones the lighting and background can be changed, etc. Even the free Acrobat Reader will do just fine. First, they require nothing of the user other than the ability to open a PDF. To me, the heart of the 3D Alligator comprises the 3D PDFs. Other 3D PDFs are on the main 3D Alligator sites. Clicking this image will open a 7.5 MB ("medium-sized") 3D PDF in this window. Ultimately, the goal is to put the user in control of what aspects of alligator anatomy they want to see…and then let the user manipulate that anatomy as they see fit.ģD PDF of the WitmerLab day-0 gatorling. Both the WitmerLab and Holliday Lab 3D Alligator sites use a mixture of 3D PDFs and QuickTime movies. Likewise, many researchers in crocodilian, archosaur, dinosaur, or reptilian evolution can benefit by the detailed interactivity provided. Alligator anatomy, specifically skull structure, is a very common component of most undergraduate comparative anatomy classes and even some public school biology curricula, and so the 3D Alligator addresses STEM objectives as set forth by the US National Research Council. The goal is to provide a highly interactive, freely available, and easily downloadable set of tools for understanding-or just playing with-alligator anatomy. The 3D Alligator is intended to be a resource that will serve both the educational and research communities. Check out the WitmerLab 3D Alligator site and the Holliday Lab 3D Alligator site. We also present some of our 3D alligator work on an adult done “way back” in 2008. Sad perhaps, but this little guy is now immortal, because we’re releasing him to the tubes of the interwebz. Casey’s team presents an adult skull, and we present a wee gatorling, a “day-0” hatchling that was stillborn on its birthday. In both cases, we’re starting with the skull, although we include a few soft-tissue systems that are active areas of research for us (brain, inner ear, sinuses, etc.). Now, we’re joining with Casey Holliday’s lab at the University of Missouri to present the 3D Alligator, two parallel, complementary, and growing websites that present alligator anatomy in all its 3D digital glory. WitmerLab has been working on American alligators for years, because crocodilians are one of just two living groups (birds are the other) of that great tribe known as archosaurs that includes dinosaurs and pterosaurs. They’re also commonly used in K-12 and undergraduate classrooms. What might be a surprise is that they’re also “model animals” for scientists, meaning that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of published technical articles on all things gatorly. They’re team mascots, Transformer toys, actors in Lubriderm commercials (and CSI: Miami), unwanted golfing partners, and even expensive cowboy boots.
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