SHARKS 3D CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER SERIES

вЂњCT scanning is one of the only ways to understand the shape of shark intestines in three dimensions,вЂќ says coauthor Adam Summers, a professor based at Friday Harbor Labs who has led a worldwide effort to scan the skeletons of fishes and other vertebrate animals. This allows researchers to see the complexities of a shark intestine without having to dissect or disturb it.

SHARKS 3D CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER SERIES

The machine works like a standard CT scanner used in hospitals: A series of X-ray images is taken from different angles, then combined using computer processing to create three-dimensional images. The researchers primarily used a computerized tomography (CT) scanner at the University of WashingtonвЂ™s Friday Harbor Laboratories to create 3D images of shark intestines, which came from specimens preserved at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

(Credit: Samantha Leigh/California State University, Dominguez Hills) вЂњWe developed a new method to digitally scan these tissues and now can look at the soft tissues in such great detail without having to slice into them.вЂќ Two live Pacific spiny dogfish sharks. вЂњItвЂ™s high time that some modern technology was used to look at these really amazing spiral intestines of sharks,вЂќ says lead author Samantha Leigh, assistant professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Even less is known about how they digest their food, and the role they play in the larger ocean ecosystem.ДЇor more than a century, researchers have relied on flat sketches of sharksвЂ™ digestive systems to discern how they function-and how what they eat and excrete affects other species in the ocean. вЂњThe vast majority of shark species, and the majority of their physiology, are completely unknown.вЂќД¬ontrary to what popular media portrays, we actually donвЂ™t know much about what sharks eat. The scans will advance the understanding of how sharks eat and digest their food. Researchers have produced a series of high-resolution, 3D scans of intestines from nearly three dozen shark species.

Sharks 3d california science center