Abstract
The cranial diversity of sharks reflects disparate biomechanical adaptations to feeding. In order to be able to investigate and better understand the ecomorphology of extant shark feeding systems, we created a x-ray computed tomography (CT) library of shark cranial anatomy with three-dimensional (3D) lower jaw reconstructions. This is used to examine and quantify lower jaw disparity in extant shark species in a separate study. The library is divided in a dataset comprised of medical CT scans of 122 sharks (Selachimorpha, Chondrichthyes) representing 73 extant species, including digitized morphology of entire shark specimens. This CT dataset and additional data provided by other researchers was used to reconstruct a second dataset containing 3D models of the left lower jaw for 153 individuals representing 94 extant shark species. These datasets form an extensive anatomical record of shark skeletal anatomy, necessary for comparative morphological, biomechanical, ecological and phylogenetic studies.
Highlights
Background & SummaryComputed tomography (CT) scanning has opened new ways for studying various parts of an organism’s biology
This technique has been used in sharks to elucidate the development[1], function[2,3,4,5] and morphology of their feeding mechanics[6,7,8]
The lead author of this work is currently undertaking such studies. This contribution provides a descriptor of a large computed tomography (CT) dataset of shark anatomy
Summary
Computed tomography (CT) scanning has opened new ways for studying various parts of an organism’s biology This technique has been used in sharks to elucidate the development[1], function[2,3,4,5] and morphology of their feeding mechanics[6,7,8]. Lower jaws present biomechanically important features related to jaw closing mechanics and are expected to function as a predictor of ecological specialisation[16,17,18,19,20,21] This tomography and virtual 3D dataset can be applied to or used to supplement further comparative and functional analyses of shark morphology. 3D models can be integrated into 3D PDF documents as interactive figures or can be physically reproduced using rapid prototyping ( referred to as stereolithography or 3D printing)[23]
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