I can't provide the actual scan because it hasn't been published yet, but
recently I assisted a colleague in obtaining a CAT scan of a bovid horn,
the object being to determine whether the twists in this particular horn
were natural or created postmortem by a curio dealer.

I was able to arrange for the scan to be made because I had recently had
the unfortunate experience of needing to have a wisdom tooth pulled. The
deed was done by a DDS who also has an M.D. degree and who normally does
maxillofacial surgery, i.e. restoring not only teeth but bone structure
for folks who have been in serious smashups or have cancers of the mouth,
jaws, palate, etc.

Pursuant to that, their office has a small CAT scanner designed to make
images of the patient's head. In normal use, the patient sits on a sort of
bar stool holding grab bars for stability. They rest their chin on a plate
and then the technician lowers a padded clamp that holds their head
absolutely still. Then, to make the images, the camera rides on a C-shaped
track that starts just behind the patient's left ear, rides around the
front, and stops at the same point on the right.

When I went in there to get the tooth pulled, they used this machine to
make a set of XRays of my teeth, and this led to a general conversation
about Xrays and teeth and (naturally) animal teeth and their differences
from human teeth and, in general, zooarchaeology. My dentist was
absolutely fascinated and mentioned that he'd recently had to have his
cat's superior carnassial extracted. I said, "oh, well, Doc, next time
I'll bring you a cat skull so you can see exactly what they did," and Doc,
like a five year old playing in the sandbox, said, "oh hey cool! Let's
make a CAT scan of the CAT!"

And there at that moment was a friendship off and running, giving me the
opportunity to ask him whether he'd be willing to help me and colleague by
CAT-scanning the bovid horn. He said 'yes' and gave me an after-hours
appointment, I brought the horn and a box of donuts. We had to jigger up a
stand for the horn (tape, modelling clay, small cardboard boxes), and
adjust the strength and exact angle of the XRay beam, but ultimately we
got beautiful publishable images. Doc gets a copy of the paper and our
grateful acknowledgement which he can show at the next meeting of his
local dental association.

And lest you think this sort of collaboration is rare....I hope you-all
have seen the recent news items around Dr. David Frayer's study of a
Neanderthal jaw from a European cave. The jaw has an impacted tooth, which
was presumably bothersome to its owner, who proved to have been using
wooden toothpicks to relieve the discomfort. Dave worked with his own
dentist on getting the necessary CAT scans to show the scratches and the
impaction, and the dentist got a second authorship on that. (Dave Frayer
was my TA in Milford Wolpoff's Anthro 101 class at the Univ. Michigan when
he was Wolpoff's grad student there 45 years ago, so I'm specially pleased
to mention his stuff).

Bottom line: make friends with your dentist, bring him some horse teeth
and get him talking about hypsodonty and lophodonty, and you may not only
make a friend but a valuable colleague. We need dentist colleagues because
we zooarchaeologists rarely have CAT scanners for "toys". Cheers -- Deb
Bennett


> Hello zooarch and vrtpaleo listserv colleagues,
>
>
>
> A postdoc colleague is looking for 3D scans of bovid horn structures –
> please see her email below, and contact her directly at
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> if you know
> of any available data.
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
>
> Briana
>
> Dr. Briana Pobiner
> Research Scientist and Museum Educator
> Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology
> w 202.633.1985  c 202.758.8608  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
> NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
> Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/smithsonian.humanorigins?ref=hl>  |
> Twitter<https://twitter.com/HumanOrigins>  |
> Website<http://humanorigins.si.edu/about/human-origins-program-team/briana-pobiner>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Costelloe, Blair [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2017 7:47 AM
> To: Pobiner, Briana <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: 3D scans/images of bovid horns
>
>
>
> Dear Briana,
>
>
>
> I am in search of 3D scans/images/digital models of bovid horn structures
> for a project I’m planning on the behavioral and fitness implications of
> variation in horn morphology. I am particularly interested in male
> individuals of African antelope species, but at this point am mostly
> trying to get a feel for what data may already be available. If you could
> please pass this email on to your colleagues I would be grateful. I would
> appreciate if anyone with such data would contact me at
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.
>
>
>
> Warm regards,
>
>
>
> Blair Costelloe
>
> Postdoctoral fellow
>
> Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
>