If one researcher dissects and destroys one, the next researcher can’t do anything with it.Īddressing this, the team uses CT scanners to immortalise the animals in 3D form. Justin Gladman, a Duke R&D engineer explains, This is another motivating factor for Morphosource. Photo by Megan Mendenhall via Duke Today.ĭespite the large catalogue kept by the center, there are only so many times an animal cadaver can be evaluated before it is damaged and no longer useful.

Graduate student Gabe Yapuncich, and Doug Boyer, right. In that time, it has preserved more than 400 cadavers for research purposes making it a good choice for the Boyer lab. The two projects have parallels in they both intend to increase accessibility and support preservation, and further the pursuit of knowledge.ĭuke Lemur Center, founded in 1966, has been home to more than 4,000 endangered primates in its history. This is an idea that the Scan the World project is working on by scanning historical artefacts and creating digital 3D printable files. Endangered species are important to the team as they provide critical information on a, quite literally, dying breed. The Morphosource database has been created by Doug Boyer and his lab team to enable researchers from around the world to have access to a large resource of data with Boyer comparing the database to “ a virtual museum,” Since,Īnything you can catalog in a natural history museum you can catalog a 3D version of. There are many species of animals in the database, with a particular emphasis on primates and endangered species. 3D imagery of a pygmy slow loris that died at the Duke Lemur Center in 2013. Partnering with the Duke Lemur Center means the team can have access to a vast number of deceased lemur species. The Boyer Lab focuses its research on primate species with the intention of understanding the origins of human evolution.

The creators, the Boyer Lab for Evolutionary Morphology & Paleobiology at Duke University have now partnered with the Duke Lemur Center to collect 3D images of the many endangered species of lemurs.

The online database, Morphosource, has been developed with the aim of providing an accessible research tool. Researchers from Duke University have created a digital database of 3D scans of deceased animals.

3d print stl files of evolution skulls