6 days ago
'Completely wacko': take a peek inside Australia's quirky native animals
The secret lives of some of Australia's most unique wildlife like koalas, kangaroos and platypuses are being revealed through a new, publicly available 3D image collection of their bones.
The Ozboneviz database allows researchers, educators, students and members of the public to explore the inner make up of even some extinct mammals.
The three-dimensional images allow people to view the skeletons "as if they held a bone in their hand", Flinders University's Associate Professor Vera Weisbecker said.
The scans reveal a side of well-known animals most people never see, such as the platypus, which has pincer-like bones in its skull.
"Platypus are, they're weird on the outside and on the inside, so they're a really special case - and echidnas as well, which are the platypus's closest relatives," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"[They're] just wacko because ... they're using their beaks a bit like a like a metal detector is used, so they swish their beak over the the the bottom of the lake and get little crabs and things, just by picking up on the electric impulses of their prey, which is the most amazing adaptation."
She said platypus arm bones looked like butterflies.
"When you think about an upper arm like a humerus, you think of the typical sort of bone with two thicker ends, like what's under a skull and crossbone," she said.
"The upper arm, it looks like an hourglass or a butterfly because they are using these arms to do this specialised digging and it just makes whole bone crazy-looking."
Seeing the cranium of a koala in 3D also sheds new light on how the iconic species survives.
"The skull tells you everything about what an animal eats and its sensory system," the evolutionary biologist said.
"Koalas, they have a very strange sort of combination of a rounded head and a really long snout, and that's something that you can only see when you look at it in detail and you compare it to something like a wombat skull which is much thicker."
Being able to examine the bones of the kangaroo, the largest animal to hop, can also provide some insights into its evolution.
"They're a really ancient group of animals that have evolved in isolation for 40 million years and people often think of them as a bit primitive compared to animals like cows and sheep ... but kangaroos are the obvious example for how that isn't true in the slightest because they have these really bizarre leg bones," she said.
"The shin bone of a kangaroo is so large compared to the femur, the upper thigh bone, so it's completely disproportionate to anything you've ever seen. It's got these really long feet.
"So it's just completely wacko."
The image database of around nearly 200 species includes extinct animals like the desert rat kangaroo, pig-footed bandicoot and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.
"They were the really special ones because they are the ones that even the scientists, when they visit a museum, they don't necessarily get to see these animals or handle them because the bones are so valuable," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"The extinct ones are sitting in museum collections, very well protected and what we did is - we went in and scanned them."
Australia's largest open-access atlas of its kind is a collaboration funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage and supported by the Australian Museum, South Australian and Northern Territory museums, the Australian National Wildlife Collection, and a number of universities.
It can be viewed on MorphoSource.
The secret lives of some of Australia's most unique wildlife like koalas, kangaroos and platypuses are being revealed through a new, publicly available 3D image collection of their bones.
The Ozboneviz database allows researchers, educators, students and members of the public to explore the inner make up of even some extinct mammals.
The three-dimensional images allow people to view the skeletons "as if they held a bone in their hand", Flinders University's Associate Professor Vera Weisbecker said.
The scans reveal a side of well-known animals most people never see, such as the platypus, which has pincer-like bones in its skull.
"Platypus are, they're weird on the outside and on the inside, so they're a really special case - and echidnas as well, which are the platypus's closest relatives," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"[They're] just wacko because ... they're using their beaks a bit like a like a metal detector is used, so they swish their beak over the the the bottom of the lake and get little crabs and things, just by picking up on the electric impulses of their prey, which is the most amazing adaptation."
She said platypus arm bones looked like butterflies.
"When you think about an upper arm like a humerus, you think of the typical sort of bone with two thicker ends, like what's under a skull and crossbone," she said.
"The upper arm, it looks like an hourglass or a butterfly because they are using these arms to do this specialised digging and it just makes whole bone crazy-looking."
Seeing the cranium of a koala in 3D also sheds new light on how the iconic species survives.
"The skull tells you everything about what an animal eats and its sensory system," the evolutionary biologist said.
"Koalas, they have a very strange sort of combination of a rounded head and a really long snout, and that's something that you can only see when you look at it in detail and you compare it to something like a wombat skull which is much thicker."
Being able to examine the bones of the kangaroo, the largest animal to hop, can also provide some insights into its evolution.
"They're a really ancient group of animals that have evolved in isolation for 40 million years and people often think of them as a bit primitive compared to animals like cows and sheep ... but kangaroos are the obvious example for how that isn't true in the slightest because they have these really bizarre leg bones," she said.
"The shin bone of a kangaroo is so large compared to the femur, the upper thigh bone, so it's completely disproportionate to anything you've ever seen. It's got these really long feet.
"So it's just completely wacko."
The image database of around nearly 200 species includes extinct animals like the desert rat kangaroo, pig-footed bandicoot and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.
"They were the really special ones because they are the ones that even the scientists, when they visit a museum, they don't necessarily get to see these animals or handle them because the bones are so valuable," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"The extinct ones are sitting in museum collections, very well protected and what we did is - we went in and scanned them."
Australia's largest open-access atlas of its kind is a collaboration funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage and supported by the Australian Museum, South Australian and Northern Territory museums, the Australian National Wildlife Collection, and a number of universities.
It can be viewed on MorphoSource.
The secret lives of some of Australia's most unique wildlife like koalas, kangaroos and platypuses are being revealed through a new, publicly available 3D image collection of their bones.
The Ozboneviz database allows researchers, educators, students and members of the public to explore the inner make up of even some extinct mammals.
The three-dimensional images allow people to view the skeletons "as if they held a bone in their hand", Flinders University's Associate Professor Vera Weisbecker said.
The scans reveal a side of well-known animals most people never see, such as the platypus, which has pincer-like bones in its skull.
"Platypus are, they're weird on the outside and on the inside, so they're a really special case - and echidnas as well, which are the platypus's closest relatives," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"[They're] just wacko because ... they're using their beaks a bit like a like a metal detector is used, so they swish their beak over the the the bottom of the lake and get little crabs and things, just by picking up on the electric impulses of their prey, which is the most amazing adaptation."
She said platypus arm bones looked like butterflies.
"When you think about an upper arm like a humerus, you think of the typical sort of bone with two thicker ends, like what's under a skull and crossbone," she said.
"The upper arm, it looks like an hourglass or a butterfly because they are using these arms to do this specialised digging and it just makes whole bone crazy-looking."
Seeing the cranium of a koala in 3D also sheds new light on how the iconic species survives.
"The skull tells you everything about what an animal eats and its sensory system," the evolutionary biologist said.
"Koalas, they have a very strange sort of combination of a rounded head and a really long snout, and that's something that you can only see when you look at it in detail and you compare it to something like a wombat skull which is much thicker."
Being able to examine the bones of the kangaroo, the largest animal to hop, can also provide some insights into its evolution.
"They're a really ancient group of animals that have evolved in isolation for 40 million years and people often think of them as a bit primitive compared to animals like cows and sheep ... but kangaroos are the obvious example for how that isn't true in the slightest because they have these really bizarre leg bones," she said.
"The shin bone of a kangaroo is so large compared to the femur, the upper thigh bone, so it's completely disproportionate to anything you've ever seen. It's got these really long feet.
"So it's just completely wacko."
The image database of around nearly 200 species includes extinct animals like the desert rat kangaroo, pig-footed bandicoot and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.
"They were the really special ones because they are the ones that even the scientists, when they visit a museum, they don't necessarily get to see these animals or handle them because the bones are so valuable," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"The extinct ones are sitting in museum collections, very well protected and what we did is - we went in and scanned them."
Australia's largest open-access atlas of its kind is a collaboration funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage and supported by the Australian Museum, South Australian and Northern Territory museums, the Australian National Wildlife Collection, and a number of universities.
It can be viewed on MorphoSource.
The secret lives of some of Australia's most unique wildlife like koalas, kangaroos and platypuses are being revealed through a new, publicly available 3D image collection of their bones.
The Ozboneviz database allows researchers, educators, students and members of the public to explore the inner make up of even some extinct mammals.
The three-dimensional images allow people to view the skeletons "as if they held a bone in their hand", Flinders University's Associate Professor Vera Weisbecker said.
The scans reveal a side of well-known animals most people never see, such as the platypus, which has pincer-like bones in its skull.
"Platypus are, they're weird on the outside and on the inside, so they're a really special case - and echidnas as well, which are the platypus's closest relatives," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"[They're] just wacko because ... they're using their beaks a bit like a like a metal detector is used, so they swish their beak over the the the bottom of the lake and get little crabs and things, just by picking up on the electric impulses of their prey, which is the most amazing adaptation."
She said platypus arm bones looked like butterflies.
"When you think about an upper arm like a humerus, you think of the typical sort of bone with two thicker ends, like what's under a skull and crossbone," she said.
"The upper arm, it looks like an hourglass or a butterfly because they are using these arms to do this specialised digging and it just makes whole bone crazy-looking."
Seeing the cranium of a koala in 3D also sheds new light on how the iconic species survives.
"The skull tells you everything about what an animal eats and its sensory system," the evolutionary biologist said.
"Koalas, they have a very strange sort of combination of a rounded head and a really long snout, and that's something that you can only see when you look at it in detail and you compare it to something like a wombat skull which is much thicker."
Being able to examine the bones of the kangaroo, the largest animal to hop, can also provide some insights into its evolution.
"They're a really ancient group of animals that have evolved in isolation for 40 million years and people often think of them as a bit primitive compared to animals like cows and sheep ... but kangaroos are the obvious example for how that isn't true in the slightest because they have these really bizarre leg bones," she said.
"The shin bone of a kangaroo is so large compared to the femur, the upper thigh bone, so it's completely disproportionate to anything you've ever seen. It's got these really long feet.
"So it's just completely wacko."
The image database of around nearly 200 species includes extinct animals like the desert rat kangaroo, pig-footed bandicoot and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.
"They were the really special ones because they are the ones that even the scientists, when they visit a museum, they don't necessarily get to see these animals or handle them because the bones are so valuable," Associate Professor Weisbecker said.
"The extinct ones are sitting in museum collections, very well protected and what we did is - we went in and scanned them."
Australia's largest open-access atlas of its kind is a collaboration funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage and supported by the Australian Museum, South Australian and Northern Territory museums, the Australian National Wildlife Collection, and a number of universities.
It can be viewed on MorphoSource.
