"(Extinct) life on the seafloor" by Harriet Drage, University of Lausanne
Entry in category 1. Object of study; Copyright CC-BY-NC-ND: Harriet Drage
This image presents a 3D captured view of life on the seafloor, 460 million years ago in Minnesota, USA. At this time, Minnesota was underwater, and hosted a diverse group of marine animals in a reef-like environment. On this small specimen, we can see the trilobite Dolichoharpes minnesotense, a coiled gastropod (relative of modern snails), and several individual corals. I took this image using photogrammetry – a cheap, accessible technique which produces 3D models by stitching together tens of photographs taken from different angles. I will use this 3D trilobite model to reconstruct how it lived and its method of feeding by simulating water flow around it. Fossils such as this are important for showing palaeontologists how different extinct animals lived together, and are remarkable for preserving an instant in time from before even land animals existed!
"(Extinct) life on the seafloor" by Harriet Drage, University of Lausanne
Entry in category 1. Object of study; Copyright CC-BY-NC-ND: Harriet Drage
This image presents a 3D captured view of life on the seafloor, 460 million years ago in Minnesota, USA. At this time, Minnesota was underwater, and hosted a diverse group of marine animals in a reef-like environment. On this small specimen, we can see the trilobite Dolichoharpes minnesotense, a coiled gastropod (relative of modern snails), and several individual corals. I took this image using photogrammetry – a cheap, accessible technique which produces 3D models by stitching together tens of photographs taken from different angles. I will use this 3D trilobite model to reconstruct how it lived and its method of feeding by simulating water flow around it. Fossils such as this are important for showing palaeontologists how different extinct animals lived together, and are remarkable for preserving an instant in time from before even land animals existed!