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

Email: witmerL@ohio.edu

 

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Common Language Summary
The Visible Interactive Moa.
This page presents our work on the 3D anatomical structure of the head and skull of the extinct South Island Giant Moa, Dinornis robustus. 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. Moa were a group of giant flightless birds endemic to New Zealand until the 1400s, when they went extinct. Members of the Dinornis robustus species were the largest moa discovered to date. The featured specimen, FMNH PA 35, belongs to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and is a mature female. It was collected in 1949 in the Pyramid Valley swamp near Christchurch, New Zealand, for the Canterbury Museum (thanks go to Paul Scofield for information on this specimen). Work on this project was primarily done by WitmerLab PhD student Catherine Early, with WitmerLab PhD candidate Ruger Porter contributing details of the vasculature. The bones of the braincase, mandible, and face were CT scanned at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, Athens, Ohio, at a slice thickness of 300 µm, and the quadrate bone was scanned at the OUµCT facility at a slice thickness of 45 µm. Segmentation of anatomical structures was done using Avizo, 3D modeling was done using Maya, 3D PDFs were generated using Deep Exploration and Adobe Acrobat, and movies were made using QuickTime and Adobe Premiere.
 

Check out our other Visible Interactive Anatomy sites! 

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 a moa (Dinornis robustus: FMNH PA 35) with each separable bony element as a separate colored object. In this mature individual, many of the bones are fused.
Download a 41 MB 3D PDF LARGEST
Download a 28 MB 3D PDF LARGE
Download a 14 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
Download a 7.7 MB 3D PDF SMALL
Download a 2 MB 3D PDF SMALLEST
 

3D PDF of the skull of a moa (Dinornis robustus: FMNH PA 35) with soft tissues such as the brain endocast, inner ear labyrinth, and pneumatic sinuses in the braincase and quadrate.
Download a 67 MB 3D PDF LARGEST
Download a 26 MB 3D PDF LARGE
Download a 13 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
Download a 6.6 MB 3D PDF SMALL
Download a 4.2 MB 3D PDF SMALLEST
 

3D PDF of the braincase of a moa (Dinornis robustus: FMNH PA 35) with soft tissues such as the brain endocast, inner ear labyrinth, nerves, and blood vessels.
Download a 30 MB 3D PDF LARGEST
Download a 24 MB 3D PDF LARGE
Download a 13 MB 3D PDF MEDIUM
Download a 7 MB 3D PDF SMALL
Download a 4.5 MB 3D PDF SMALLEST
 
Labeled animation of skull, brain endocast, and inner ear. Animation of the skull of an adult female of the extinct South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus, FMNH PA 35), labeled to show the endocast of the brain cavity, labyrinth of the inner ear, confluent paranasal and paratympanic air sinuses, and other soft tissues. It was collected in 1949 in the Pyramid Valley swamp near Christchurch, New Zealand, for the Canterbury Museum. Work on this project was done by WitmerLab PhD student Catherine Early. The bones of the braincase, mandible, and face were CT scanned at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, Athens, Ohio, at a slice thickness of 300 µm, and the quadrate bone was scanned at the OUµCT facility at a slice thickness of 45 µm. Segmentation of anatomical structures was done using Avizo; 3D PDFs were generated using Maya, Deep Exploration, and Adobe Acrobat; and movies were made using Avizo, Maya, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere.
Download a 62 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download a 33 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 19 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
Download a 13 MB QuickTime version (640x360)
 
 
Labeled skull animation. Animation of the skull of an adult female of the extinct South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus, FMNH PA 35), labeled to show the individual bones of the skull. In this mature individual, many of the bones are fused. It was collected in 1949 in the Pyramid Valley swamp near Christchurch, New Zealand, for the Canterbury Museum. Work on this project was done by WitmerLab PhD student Catherine Early. The bones of the braincase, mandible, and face were CT scanned at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, Athens, Ohio, at a slice thickness of 300 µm, and the quadrate bone was scanned at the OUµCT facility at a slice thickness of 45 µm. Segmentation of anatomical structures was done using Avizo; 3D PDFs were generated using Maya, Deep Exploration, and Adobe Acrobat; and movies were made using Avizo, Maya, QuickTime, and Adobe Premiere.
Download a 21 MB QuickTime version (HD: 1920x1080)
Download an 11 MB QuickTime version (1280x720)
Download a 6 MB QuickTime version (853x480)
Download a 4.1 MB QuickTime version (640x360)
 
Photos  
 

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: 10/25/2016