Aves 3D

Aves 3D is a 'three dimensional database of avian skeletal morphology' and it is awesome!

This is an NSF-funded project led by Leon Claessens, Scott Edwards and Abby Drake. What they are doing is making surface scans of various bones of different bird species and placing the 3D scans on the website for everyone to see and use. With simple use of the mouse or arrow buttons, one can move, zoom and rotate each image any way one wants.

The collection is growing steadily and already contains some very interesting bones from a number of species, both extinct and extant. You can see examples of bones of the dodo or the Diatryma gigantea (aka Gaston's Bird), as well as many skulls and sternums and various limb bones of currently existing species.

The database is searchable by
Cladogram, Scientific Name, Common Name, Skeletal Element, geological era, Geographical Location or Specimen Number.

Most of the actual scanning is done by undergraduate students and the database is already being use for several scientific projects. You can get involved and help build the database, you can use the scans for teaching and research, or you can just go and have fun rotating the cool-looking bird bones.