Figure 2. Examples of 3D renderings and visualizations from CT data (top) Emu embryo in egg (15 cm across) revealing stage of ossification (all still-cartilaginous materials, here including the wings, have been rendered transparent) (Sample courtesy of Gerald Grellet-Tinner, University of Texas at Austin). (middle) Garnet porphyroblasts (2-3 cm long) in mica schist (matrix rendered transparent), all showing identical orientation of elaborately fluted spiral external morphology, interpreted to reflect growth during rotation about an axis oblique to foliation in the schist. (Sample courtesy of Dr. Bob Bauer, University of Missouri). (bottom) Virtual slices through the braincase of Herrerasaurus, demonstrating the utility of CT data for nondestructive extraction of important morphological information from one-of-a-kind specimens. Skull length is 312 mm. (Sample courtesy of Dr. Oscar Alcober, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Argentina).

For more examples of 3D visualizations using CT data, please visit the UTCT image folio.