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oUTCT PEN Project ID: 00000C887 Public
1762 Media · 1501 Specimens · Managed by: Jessie Maisano

oUTCT is partnering with the oVert (openVertebrate) project to make nearly 9 terabytes of existing high-resolution X-ray computed tomographic (HRXCT) data publicly accessible, and train the next generation of students in best practices for these data. The University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray CT Facility (UTCT) was established in 1997 to make HRXCT – a direct descendant of medical CT – available to researchers in the natural sciences. Since then, scientists from around the world have brought their most important and precious natural history specimens to UTCT to image and measure their interior features nondestructively. This application of HRXCT technology has been tremendously successful, resulting in the proliferation of scanners at institutions across the country. But UTCT datasets, acquired in part via dozens of NSF grants and cited more than 18,000 times in academic publications, remain in high demand due to their broad scope, high data quality, and historical significance. This demand has been fueled in part by the public-facing Digital Library of Morphology (DigiMorph.org), an NSF-funded project online since 2002 and housed at UTCT, which serves HRXCT-derived animations for more than 1,000 biological and paleontological specimens. In the oUTCT project, UTCT and DigiMorph are partnering with oVert and iDigBio (both at the University of Florida) and the MorphoSource data repository (Duke University) to make this unparalleled collection of HRXCT datasets more readily discoverable and more easily repurposed. oUTCT will also provide training to the oVert community, which spans nearly 20 universities and academic institutions, to maximize the scientific impact of that project. Over the course of two years, oUTCT is uploading HRXCT data of nearly 1,500 fossil and extant vertebrate species scanned for 90 UTCT clients to MorphoSource, where they can be easily discovered and downloaded by everyone from scientists to artists to K-12 educators. This mobilization is being accomplished by undergraduate students employed at UTCT, who are learning the basics of HRXCT data acquisition and visualization as well as elementary bioinformatics associated with iDigBio, DigiMorph, and MorphoSource. In addition to this educational outreach, UTCT will host two short courses per year, cosponsored by oVert and iDigBio, to train students and scientists associated with oVert and MorphoSource in the fundamentals of HRXCT data acquisition, visualization, analysis, and long-term management. These activities will expand the impact of the original oVert project and maximize the return on NSF’s investment in it, UTCT, DigiMorph, iDigBio, and MorphoSource.

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  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000637675 left petrosal amnh:mammals:254554 Pontoporia blainvillei Volumetric Image Series 2024-06-17 Restricted Download  
000170711 ankle AMNH:Mammals:M-232506 Cynopterus brachyotis Volumetric Image Series 2021-01-07 Restricted Download  
000170712 wrist AMNH:Mammals:M-232506 Cynopterus brachyotis Volumetric Image Series 2021-01-07 Restricted Download  
000170673 whole AMNH:Mammals:M-266126 Carollia perspicillata Volumetric Image Series 2021-01-06 Restricted Download  
000365873 sacrum AMNH:Mammals:M-187355 Galago senegalensis Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-02 Restricted Download  
000365877 sacrum AMNH:Mammals:M-187357 Galago senegalensis Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-02 Restricted Download  
000365989 sacrum amnh:mammals:83415 Hylobates hoolock Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-02 Restricted Download  
000366681 sacrum AMNH:Mammals:M-167346 Pan troglodytes troglodytes Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-04 Restricted Download  
000366677 sacrum AMNH:Mammals:M-167342 Pan troglodytes troglodytes Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-04 Restricted Download  
000366685 sacrum AMNH:Mammals:M-90189 Pan troglodytes troglodytes Volumetric Image Series 2021-06-04 Restricted Download  
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