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Holographic contouring of fossil teeth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Stuart B. Elliott
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Department of Geology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041
William J. Morris
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Department of Geology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041

Abstract

A method has been developed that uses holographic interferometry to generate contour maps of the occlusional surfaces of fossil teeth. The resulting contour map is, in itself, a valuable descriptive tool. In addition, it provides information for a very large data base, which has been used in trend-surface analysis and Q-mode clustering. As an example, these analytical techniques are applied to a set of Pliocene badger teeth. The same methods can be applied to any paleontological problem dealing with shapes of small objects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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