Scientists create digital vaquita skeleton to aid conservation without harm
Technology
Scientists have created a detailed digital version of the vaquita's skeleton, a tiny porpoise from Mexico that's now down to just seven to 10 left in the wild.
Using a specimen collected back in 1966, this project lets researchers study and protect the world's rarest marine mammal without risking damage to its precious remains.
Open access vaquita 3-D model
By using hospital-grade CT scans and photography, the team built an accurate 3-D model that's now free for anyone online.
As Jamie Knaub, the study's lead author and a doctoral researcher at Florida Atlantic University, puts it, open-access data like this can boost global conservation efforts and help more people learn about why saving the vaquita matters.