Lawrence M. Witmer, PhD
Professor of Anatomy
Chang Professor of Paleontology

Dept. of Biomedical Sciences
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Life Science Building, Rm 123
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701 USA

Phone: 740 593 9489
Fax: 740 593 2400
Email: witmerL@ohio.edu

 

Projects

3D Visualization

Pick-and-Scalpel Blog

WitmerLab Facebook

WitmerLab YouTube

People

Facilities

Collections

Prospective Students

 

WitmerLab Home

L. M. Witmer Home

OUµCT

Biomedical Sciences Home

OU-HCOM Home

Ohio University Home

 

Common Language Summary
The Visible Interactive Iguana.
This page presents our work on the 3D anatomical structure of the head and skull of the green iguana, Iguana iguana. These resources are outgrowths of our more technical work and are intended to serve as STEM educational aids for K-12 and undergraduate students, as well as researchers. Our featured specimen is an adult green iguana (OUVC 10677) collected legally and euthanized humanely in Zoo Miami and provided to us for research and education. We scanned the head region on the OUµCT scanner in 2012 at a resolution of 90µm (0.090 mm). We imported the scan data into workstations running Avizo and digitally extracted the bones and soft tissues. The work on this project was done primarily by Alexandra Spaw Johns, an undergraduate student in Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College as part of her 2012 Summer Research Apprenticeship in WitmerLab. Lexie segmented all the structures in Avizo, generated the 3D PDFs in Deep Exploration and Adobe Acrobat, and made the movies in Adobe Premiere. She was assisted especially by Jason Bourke, as well as other WitmerLab members. More content will be added in the future.
 

Check out our other Visible Interactive Anatomy sites! 

Download the µCT scan data in DICOM format and 3D-printable STLs at MorphoSource.org

Some of the work featured here has been published:
•
Porter, W. R. and L. M. Witmer. 2015. Vascular patterns in iguanas and other squamates: blood vessels and sites of thermal exchange. PLOS ONE 10(10): e0139215. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139215. 3D PDF download here. DICOM data download for five OUVC specimens on Dryad.

Sketchfab animations

 

Green iguana head vasculature - OUVC 10603 by WitmerLab at Ohio University on Sketchfab

 

Green Iguana skull - OUVC 10677 by WitmerLab at Ohio University on Sketchfab

3D PDFs Videos
3D PDFs allow anyone with even the free Acrobat Reader to interactively manipulate the 3D models that we generate with powerful software like Avizo. The skull and individual bones can be spun around, isolated, made transparent, hidden, etc. The files can even be saved to your local computer. We provide each 3D PDF in different resolutions and files sizes to match your interest and the power of your computer. View our mini-tutorial.
NOTE: Bugs in many browsers prevent them from running 3D PDFs in a browser window, so please save it to your system and then launch it.
 

3D PDF of the skull of an adult green iguana (Iguana iguana: OUVC 10677) with each bone as a separate colored object. The right side and left side can each be turned on and off or made transparent. Unpaired bones (e.g., frontal) are assigned to the right side.
• Download a 13 MB 3D PDF LARGEST
• Download a 7.2 MB 3D PDF LARGE
• Download a 4.2 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
• Download a 2.5 MB 3D PDF SMALL
 

3D PDF of the skull of an adult green iguana (Iguana iguana: OUVC 10677) with soft tissues such as the brain endocast, inner ear labyrinth, blood vessels, and nerves. The right side and left side can each be turned on and off or made transparent. Unpaired bones (e.g., frontal) are assigned to the right side.
• Download a 14 MB 3D PDF LARGEST
• Download a 7.7 MB 3D PDF LARGE
• Download a 4.4 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
• Download a 2.6 MB 3D PDF SMALL
 
 
Labeled skull animation. Animation of the skull of an adult green iguana (Iguana iguana: OUVC 10677), labeled to show the individual bones of the skull. Alexandra Spaw Johns segmented the skull in Avizo, and labeled and generated the animation in Adobe Premiere. Jason Bourke assisted. (Note: the surangular-articular suture has been updated in the 3D PDFs but not the movies.)
• Download a 112 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
• Download a 58 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
• Download a 36 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
• Download a 26 MB QuickTime version (640x360)
 
 

Labeled animation of skull, brain endocast, and inner ear. Animation of the skull of an adult green iguana (Iguana iguana: OUVC 10677), with labeled images of the endocast of the brain cavity, labyrinth of the inner ear, and other soft tissues. Alexandra Spaw Johns segmented the skull in Avizo, and labeled and generated the animation in Adobe Premiere. Jason Bourke assisted. (Note: the surangular-articular suture has been updated in the 3D PDFs but not the movies.)
• Download a 55 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
• Download a 26 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
• Download a 15 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
• Download a 10 MB QuickTime version (640x360)

 

Witmer is responsible for the content of the website. Content provided here is for educational and research purposes only, and may not be used for any commercial purpose without the permission of L. M. Witmer and other relevant parties.

This project was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation.

  Ohio University
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701
740-593-2530 740-597-2778 fax
 
 

Last updated: 03/11/2019