Avizo reconstruction of skull of Siamogale melilutra dataset

<em><strong>Siamogale melilutra</strong></em> is an extinct species of giant otter from the late Miocene from Yunnan province, China. Ranking among the largest fossil otters, <em>Siamogale</em> represents a feeding ecomorphology with no living analog. Its giant size and high mandibular strength confer shell-crushing capability matched only by other extinct molluscivores, such as the marine bear <em>Kolponomos</em>.^[1]The skull reveals a combination of otter-like and badger-like cranial and dental characteristics. The new species belongs to the Lutrinae because of its possession of a large infraorbital canal and ventral expansion of the mastoid process, among other traits.^[2] <em>Siamogale melilutra</em> was about 1.9 m (6.25 ft) in overall length and weighed at least 40 kg (88 pounds).^[3] The remains of the skull were found in China and were re-created with a special program called the CT scan which is able to reconstruct the skeleton without being damaged. (From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamogale_melilutra). This dataset was generated by Avizo 2020.2. It represents our reconstruction of the skull of Siamogale melilutra. The original CT files are available on MorphoSource.org, media 000413248, DOI 10.17602/M2/M413248. A mesh PLY file of the reconstructed skull generated from this Avizo dataset is also available at MorphoSource.org, media 000413543, DoI 10.17602/M2/M413543.