A 3D REPOSITORY OF DINOSAUR TEETH: THE GENERATION OF OPEN RESOURCES FOR THE CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIMENS

Among the many valuable uses of the artificial intelligence in the field of museums, it may assist the classification of out-of-context items. This paper deals with the problem of the identification of dinosaur teeth (a type of fossil that is usually found scattered), which can be tackled by means of multivariate algorithms (such as the principal components, discriminant or cluster analyses) taking as a starting point a series of morphometric values (i.e., distances between specific points of the fossil tooth). A good interpretation requires some comprehension regarding the mathematical algorithms that are used, as well as the specific knowledge in palaeontology that permits appreciating the actual reach of the results. However, based on metric values as the computations are, there must also be some control over their precision and the possibility of checking the old measurements or complete the list of morphometric variables. This is an aspect that may be solved if the three-dimensional models of the teeth are made publicly available.The text describes the 3D documentation of a set of twelve fossil teeth of the museum of Natural Sciences of Álava (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) —approximately from 1 to 6 cm in size— using a structured light scanner and close-up photographs for recording some features smaller than the resolution of the scanner. The information about each tooth was then packed and uploaded to the university repository, from where it is also accessible via cultural and scientific aggregators (such as Europeana); likewise, reduced resolution copies are also accessible in the commercial platform Sketchfab&reg;.</p

Harmonizing methods for wildlife abundance estimation and pathogen detection in Europe-a questionnaire survey on three selected host-pathogen combinations

__Background:__ The need for wildlife health surveillance as part of disease control in wildlife, domestic animals and humans on the global level is widely recognized. However, the objectives, methods and intensity of existing wildlife health surveillance programs vary greatly among European countries, resulting in a patchwork of data that are difficult to merge and compare. This survey aimed at evaluating the need and potential for data harmonization in wildlife health in Europe. The specific objective was to collect information on methods currently used to estimate host abundance and pathogen prevalence. Questionnaires were designed t

Priorities for Mediterranean marine turtle conservation and management in the face of climate change

As climate-related impacts threaten marine biodiversity globally, it is important to adjust conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Translating scientific knowledge into practical management, however, is often complicated due to resource, economic and policy constraints, generating a knowledge-action gap. To develop potential solutions for marine turtle conservation, we explored the perceptions of key actors across 18 countries in the Mediterranean. These actors evaluated their perceived relative importance of 19 adaptation and mitigation measures that could safeguard marine turtles from climate change. Of importance, despite differences in expertise, experience and focal country, the perceptions of researchers and management practitioners largely converged with respect to prioritizing adaptation and mitigation measures. Climate change was considered to have the greatest impacts on offspring sex ratios and suitable nesting sites. The most viable adaptation/mitigation measures were considered to be reducing other pressures that act in parallel to climate change. Ecological effectiveness represented a key determinant for implementing proposed measures, followed by practical applicability, financial cost, and societal cost. This convergence in opinions across actors likely reflects long-standing initiatives in the Mediterranean region towards supporting knowledge exchange in marine turtle conservation. Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Importantly, this study demonstrates a successful example of how interactive processes can be used to fill the knowledge-action gap between research and management.This work was conducted under FutureMares EU project that received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869300. The Mediterranean Marine Turtle Working Group was established in 2017 and is continuously supported by MedPAN and the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. The work of AC was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 2340).Peer reviewe