ANAGLYPH STEREO IMAGING OF DINOSAUR TRACK MORPHOLOGY AND MICROTOPOGRAPHY

• Main Authors: Palaeontologia Electronica, Stephen M. Gatesy, Neil H. Shubin, Farish A. Jenkins
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: KEY WORDS; anaglyph; track; footprint; dinosaur; Greenland; Triassic; Norian; Fleming Fjord; East Greenland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.630.4014; http://www.palaeo-electronica.org/2005_1/gatesy10/gatesy10.pdf

Fossil tracks should be recorded by methods that foster detailed ichnological analysis. Although outline drawings remain the standard currency of footprint illustra-tion, their simplicity entails a tremendous loss of information. By contrast, monocular photographs are highly detailed but often suffer from suboptimal lighting, which can cause misperceptions. Anaglyph stereo imaging offers a compact, scale-independent format for illustrating and presenting the complex three-dimensional (3-D) shape of dinosaur footprints. Using examples from the Upper Triassic Fleming Fjord Formation of East Greenland, we address the benefits of anaglyphs to the exploration and exposi-tion of theropod tracks in both the field and laboratory. We find that the addition of ste-reopsis to other available depth cues (shading, cast shadows) maximizes the information content of a 2-D image while minimizing erroneous or ambiguous percep-tions of shape.