What is oVert?

oVert, short for openVertebrate, is a new initiative to provide free, digital 3-D vertebrate anatomy models and data to researchers, educators, students and the public. Over the next four years, the oVert team will CT scan 20,000 fluid-preserved specimens from U.S. museum collections, producing high-resolution anatomical data for more than 80 percent of vertebrate genera.

CT scanning is a nondestructive technology that reveals a specimen inside and out — its skeleton, muscles, circulatory and nervous systems, internal organs, parasites, eggs and stomach contents.

A selection of specimens will also be scanned with contrast-enhancing stains to characterize soft tissues.

These digital images and 3-D mesh files will be open for exploration, download and 3-D printing on MorphoSource, an open-access online database. These new media will provide unprecedented global access to valuable specimens in museum collections and enhance the research value of existing data-rich specimens in iDigBio.

oVert is a multi-institutional project funded by the National Science Foundation.

A colorized CT scan of a Burmese horned toad, Brachytarsophrys carinensis, showing the skeleton and mineralized skin.

Contrast-enhanced scans, like this Cuban anole can be analyzed using a range of engineering software. In this case, the direction of the muscle fibers are classified using a material science-based fiber analysis.

Even delicate structures, such as the muscles in the hand of this Tanzanian screeching frog, Artholeptis tanneri, can be visualized and digitally dissected using contrast-enhanced CT.

Digitizing specimens through CT scanning makes it easier for museums to share their rare and important specimens. This is the holotype of the rough-footed mud turtle, Kinosternon hirtepes, from the Florida Museum herpetology collection.

X-ray CT allows researchers to visualize and quantify hard-to-measure characteristics. This image shows high and low density areas of the skull of an Angolan burrowing pig-nosed frog.

How does oVert complement other museum digitization efforts?

oVert is the first thematic collection network (TCN) to provide national and international research communities with freely-accessible, digital, 3-D data for internal anatomy across vertebrate diversity.

In doing so, the initiative supports the mission of NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program and iDigBio, building on previous NSF investments in digitizing vertebrate collections by making 3-D anatomical data available to scientists, students and educators around the world.

What kind of data will oVert provide?

oVert will primarily focus on providing two types of data: raw tomography data, also known as slice files, for researchers who have access to 3-D rendering software and 3-D models that can be viewed online or downloaded and 3-D printed.

What are oVert’s education and outreach components?

The oVert team will train museum specialists to produce, curate and distribute 3-D anatomical data and will offer guidance to researchers on how to use these data. The team will also teach high school and undergraduate students to create 3-D anatomical models.

To increase the use of digital specimens by K-12 STEM educators, the team will hold teacher-driven workshops that generate freely available lesson plans focused on specific science standards based on digital and printed 3-D models of specimens in U.S. museum collections.

Can international research institutions participate in oVert?

Funding is restricted to digitizing specimens in U.S. collections. The oVert team, however, can provide guidance to researchers at international institutions interested in CT scanning specimens, uploading their data to MorphoSource or forming similar collaborative networks.

How do I get involved in oVert?                       

Contact co-principal investigator Ed Stanley at elstanley@flmnh.ufl.edu.

How can I upload my own data?

Anyone can upload their own data to MorphoSource. Read MorphoSource’s guide to getting started.

What is oVert’s approach to copyright issues?

oVert data is freely available for research, education and other non-commercial uses. To use these data in a publication, please adhere to the wishes of both the data author and data owner regarding the acknowledgment and citation of their data on MorphoSource.

Data housed on MorphoSouce cannot be used for commercial purposes or financial gain unless MorphoSource administrators have been notified of and approve this use in writing. Inquiries about licensing data from museum specimens for commercial uses should be directed to the museum that owns that specimen.

Read MorphoSource’s terms and conditions of use.

CT scanning highlights the heavy armor on the skull of this giant girdled lizard, Smaug giganteus.

By applying methods such as finite element analysis, researchers can model stress and strain on museum specimens. This image shows how the fangs of this eastern diamondback may respond to these forces when biting prey.

A contrast-enhanced scan shows the heart of a Karoo girdled lizard, Karusasaurus polyzonus, revealing its delicate atria and aortic arch.

With oVert, educators and students have access to thousands of specimens from U.S. museums, such as this pygmy marmoset.

CT scan of a Malagasy dwarf chameleon, Brookesia superciliaris, colorized to show bone density.

A CT scan showing the final two meals of an equally unfortunate eastern hognose snake, Heterodon platirhinos: a salamander and a toad.

Who is involved in oVert?

Principal investigators are listed below. Read the full list of PIs, co-PIs and their affiliations.

Learn more about Research and Collections at the Florida Museum.

Read more about oVert on the Museum website and in Science magazine.