Application of digital 3D visualization techniques for large-scale analyses of invertebrate anatomy using high-resolution non-invasive imaging techniques

• Applicant: Dr. Alexander Ziegler
• Subject Area: Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2009 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 141579913

The principal aim of this project is to gather data on the anatomy of selected marine invertebrate taxa to conduct large-scale comparative morphological studies, primarily for phylogenetic and developmental inferences. Modern imaging techniques, in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and micro-computed tomography (μCT), permit to obtain morphological data non-invasively, either from living, freshly fixed, or museum specimens. Based on the already existing soft tissue datasets for Echinoidea (sea urchins) obtained using MRI, complementary hard-part datasets will be collected employing μCT. The datasets will then be fused to create interactively accessible digital 3D models of the analyzed species and will be made available online. All datasets will be examined for phylogenetically informative characters to extend the existing character matrices. In a second step, the large-scale comparative analyses will be extended to selected species of a well-characterized group of protostome marine invertebrates, the Polyplacophora (chitons), in order to extend the existing character matrix.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Gonzalo Giribet, Ph.D.