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eSkeletons: "The Hip Bone's Connected to the …" Web Bone

screen capture from eSkeletons home page and comparison of crania

Digital bones! The eSkeletons Project offers a rich tour of the human skeleton as well as other primate skeletons. On the left: a 3-D animation will set the human humerus (upper arm) "in action." On the right: comparison of the human cranium with the chimpanzee cranium helps show that the closest genetic similarity of humans is with the chimpanzee.

Credit: John Kappelman, University of Texas at Austin


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Photo of human cranium being scanned in the High Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility

eSkeletons' three-dimensional capture of the homo sapiens' cranium was the first high resolution X-ray computed tomography scan of the human skull.

Credit: John Kappelman, University of Texas at Austin

 

montage of images of UTCT Facility, views of human skull specimen, eSkeletons screen captures

Skeletal specimens included in eSkeletons are digitized by a variety of methods at the High Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility at the University of Texas at Austin (UTCT), a new partner in the NSF Tera Grid. Frame captures (at bottom) depict individual slices from the high resolution X-ray CT scan of the human skull.

Credit: John Kappelman, University of Texas at Austin

 

photo of UTCT lab assistant, reviewing anatomy of the human pelvis for correct labeling

Production of the eSkeletons' web site depends upon the efforts of a large number of student research assistants. Kerri Wilhelm, a UT Austin undergraduate, reviews the anatomy of the human pelvis (os coxae) for correct labeling.

Credit: John Kappelman, University of Texas at Austin

 

Photo of John Kappelman holding fossilized teeth

John Kappelman also conducts paleontological field work at a variety of locations around the world. In the highlands of Ethiopia, he holds the fossilized teeth from a variety of extinct proboscideans (left hand) and the bizarre arsinothere (right hand). These fossils date to 27 millions years ago. See http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr03131.htm

Credit: Tab Rasmussen, Washington University, St. Louis