Beauty is more than skin deep: a non-invasive protocol for in vivo anatomical study using micro-CT

Microcomputed tomography (μCT) is a widely used tool in biomedical research, employed to investigate tissues and bone structures of small mammals in vivo. The application of in vivo μCT scanning in non-medical studies greatly lags behind the rapid advancements made in the biomedical field wherein the methodology has evolved to allow for longitudinal studies and eliminate the need to sacrifice the animal. Ecological and evolutionary studies often involve morphological measurements of a large sample of live animals; however, the potential of in vivo μCT imaging as a method for data acquisition has yet to be delineated.

Here, we describe a protocol for in vivo μCT imaging of the internal anatomy of reptiles and amphibians, commonly used study organisms in ecological and evolutionary research. We consider the skeletal and extraskeletal (i.e. osteoderms) bones of a lizard as a case study to elucidate the potential of in vivo μCT imaging. First, we explore the effects of various parameter ...