From head to tail: 3D imaging the whole body morphology of the stem gnathostome Anglaspis heintzi

This dataset contains raw CT scan data and 3D model files of Anglaspis heintzi, supporting the publication 'From head to tail: 3D imaging the whole body morphology of the stem gnathostome Anglaspis heintzi' (https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2025.2476441).

Anglaspis heintzi PMO D384 was scanned using a Nikon Metrology XTH 225ST X-ray CT machine fitted with a reflection target at the XTM Facility, Palaeobiology Research Group, University of Bristol. For D384, two scans were made: first we scanned the whole specimen, including the preserved caudal portions of the headshield (voltage: 100 kV, current: 169 μA, 3141 projections, 1 frame, exposure: 1000 ms, no filtration, voxel resolution: 16.92 μm, stack dimensions: 1610 X, 1588 Y, 1805 Z). We conducted a second scan targeting the orbital, oral, and pineal regions of the headshield (voltage: 85 kV, current: 142 μA, 3141 projections, 2 frames, exposure: 1415 ms, no filtration, voxel resolution: 12.16 μm, stack dimensions: 1860 X, 1772 Y, 1720 Z). 

Specimens PMO D382a-b were scanned using a Nikon Metrology XTH 225ST 2X X-ray CT machine at the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Birmingham. The whole block containing the two specimens was scanned with a rotating target (voltage: 100 kV, current: 380 μA, 4181 projections, 2 frames, exposure: 708ms, filtration: N/A, voxel resolution: 20.49 μm, stack dimensions: 1248 X, 1905 Y, 2860 Z). 

The resulting image stacks were initially processed in ImageJ 1.53o to crop the surrounding areas and improve contrast. A smoothing and Gaussian filter were also applied to PMO D384 to reduce noise. The stacks were segmented in Avizo 2021.1 (ThermoFisher Scientific) and Mimics v.23 (materialize) to visualise the 3D morphology. The resultant 3D surface files were exported into and visualised in MeshLab 2022.02 and Blender v. 3.4.1 (blender.org).

The following data are made available: raw TIFF stacks and associated metadata files; 3D PLY files exported from Mimics and Avizo.