3D modeling and printing were used to create the mounted skeleton of a Pliocene proboscidea,
Stegodon miensis and an Early Cretaceous titanosauriform sauropod,
Tambatitanis amicitiae. Both
S. miensis and
T. amicitiae are known only from partial skeletons, which preserve less than one third of the total number of skeletal elements. To reconstruct their skeletons, the unfound skeletal parts should be modeled, using the modification of 3D digital data of fossil bones (virtual bones) of closely related taxa.
In case of
S. miensis, a complete skeleton of
S. huanghensis is available as a template. The virtual bones of several individual of
S. miensis replace the corresponding elements of the template. The virtual bones of
S. miensis and those of
S. huanghensis are modified so as to articulate each other.
T. amicitae is known only from the holotype partial skeleton. As there is no titanosauriform known from a complete skeleton, partial skeletons of various titanosauriform dinosaurs were used in the modeling of unfound skeletal parts of
T. amicitae.
Completed virtual skeletons of
S. miensis and
T. amicitae were finally printed in real size using 3D printers and mounted in museums.
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