RAPID: High-resolution 3D digitization of complete blue whale skeleton

该项目将创建一个在线的，开放访问的3D数字模型的完整蓝鲸骨架从收集在诺约海洋科学中心在加州。蓝鲸是极地沃茨的一种重要濒危物种，但标本极其罕见，使它们难以研究，观察和研究。骨骼解剖学是考古学和许多生物科学的基础数据集，直接应用于进化模型，发育生物学，比较解剖学和生理学，古生物学和生态学。骨骼数据的数字化收集服务于依赖参考收集来识别动物遗骸的许多不同学科，例如人类学和法医学。这项研究将利用一个独特的机会，创建一个蓝鲸完整解剖的数字记录，目前正在处理安装在博物馆。该项目中创建的蓝鲸3D模型将首次免费向公众开放，使研究人员和公众能够轻松访问并与标本互动，否则需要亲自前往博物馆进行特别访问。为了完成3D模型，来自爱达荷州自然历史博物馆的技术人员将前往Noyo中心，在两周内扫描蓝鲸骨架，然后在爱达荷州虚拟化实验室进行3D处理。3D模型将在包括MorphoSource在内的开放式网站上提供。数字模型文件将在爱达荷州自然历史博物馆的IVL中创建。IVL每年为10-12名爱达荷州州立大学的本科生和研究生提供实习机会，在那里他们从头到尾接受3D模型构建方面的实践培训。这些学生将在项目首席技术人员的监督下促进模型的后处理。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will create an online, open-access 3D digital model of a full blue whale skeleton from the collection at Noyo Center for Marine Science in California. Blue whales are an important endangered species in Polar waters, but specimens are extremely rare, making them difficult to research, see, and study. Skeletal anatomy is a fundamental dataset for archeology and a host of biosciences, with direct application to evolutionary models, developmental biology, comparative anatomy and physiology, paleontology, and ecology. Digital collections of skeletal data serve many different disciplines that rely on reference collections to identify animal remains, such as anthropology and forensic science. This research will take advantage of a unique opportunity to create a digital record of the complete anatomy of a blue whale, which is currently being processed for mounting at the museum. The 3D model of the blue whale created in this project will be freely available to the public for the first time, allowing for researchers and the public to easily access and interact with the specimen that would have otherwise required a special in-person trip to the museum housing this collection. In order to complete the 3D model, technicians from the Idaho Museum of Natural History will travel to the Noyo Center to scan the blue whale skeleton over two weeks, followed by processing of 3D at the Idaho Virtualization Lab. The 3D model will be made available on open-access websites, including MorphoSource. Digital model files will be created back at the IVL at the Idaho Museum of Natural History. The IVL provides internships to 10-12 Idaho State University undergraduate and graduate students each year, where they receive hands-on training in 3D model construction, from start to finish. Post-processing for models will be facilitated by these students, with oversight from the project's lead technician.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.