Advances in the computer and imaging technology have revolutionized techniques for quantifying size and shape aspects of objects (morphometric analysis). The new morphometric course offers students hands-on training in applying this cutting-edge technology in research. Digital Paleobiology Lab - a newly developed, fully equipped facility - is available for both the training during the course and the subsequent use for thesis/dissertation projects. The training will cover image analysis, morphometric methods, and computer-intensive statistical techniques. The software training will include Scion/NIH Image, SAS (Statistical Analysis System), SAS-IML (SAS Interactive Matrix Language), plus other packages. This course is primarily designed for graduate students in paleontology, but should be of interest to students of other geological and biological sciences as well (i.e., anyone who is interested in quantifying shape/size characteristics of objects).
The course includes 1 lecture and 2 labs (3 credit hours). The final grade will be based on exercises (assigned on weekly-to-biweekly basis), in-class oral presentation, and final project.
Topics/Keywords
Morphometrics,
statistical analysis, digital imaging, image data acquisition, HL
Image++,
SAS, IML, size, size-frequency, size trends, allometry, isometry,
exploratory
multivariate methods (e.g., PCA, MDS), outline analysis, landmark
methods
(e.g., Procrustes), confirmatory/discriminant methods,
computer-intensive
statistical tests, disparity, morphospace.
Figure 2. Posterior, bootstrap-corrected error rates of classification (for samples with n>1) for size-free morphogroups of the brachiopod Glottidia. Error rates and 95% confidence bars based on bootstrap runs performed independently at each sample size.
Figure 3. Full Procrustes fit of the bivalve mollusk Mercenaria campechiensis. Data are 13 landmarks for 52 shells (Bush, A. 1999, unpub. M.S thesis, Geological Sciences, VT)
