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Science 23 February 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5508, p. 1453
DOI: 10.1126/science.291.5508.1453d
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NetWatch

How do you peer inside an egg without breaking it? One way is with high-resolution x-ray computed tomography, which allows researchers to probe both soft and hard tissue, then assemble flat x-ray pictures into a 3D image.

The Digital Morphology Group at the University of Texas, Austin, overseen by paleontologist Tim Rowe, has built a recently expanded online library of the skeletons of both modern and fossil vertebrates. (So far, one invertebrate--a coral--is included.) On display are the skulls of 37 species, including mammals, turtles, lizards, dinosaurs, and birds. This image, assembled from 279 x-ray slices, reveals an emu embryo inside its shell. Also available is an online anatomical tutorial to Thrinaxodon, a 245-million-year-old creature that is transitional between mammals and their ancestors. Each skull can viewed in QuickTime movies that show it spinning on different axes. Most of the skeletons include slice-by-slice black-and-white movies. It's only the beginning; the site will double within 2 years.

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