Avizo reconstruction of skull of Siamogale melilutra dataset

<p><em><strong>Siamogale melilutra</strong></em>&nbsp;is an extinct species of giant&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter">otter</a>&nbsp;from the late&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocene">Miocene</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunnan">Yunnan</a>&nbsp;province,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China">China</a>.&nbsp;Ranking among the largest fossil otters,&nbsp;<em>Siamogale</em>&nbsp;represents a feeding&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecomorphology">ecomorphology</a>&nbsp;with no living analog. Its giant size and high mandibular strength confer&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durophagy">shell-crushing capability</a>&nbsp;matched only by other extinct&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluscivore">molluscivores</a>, such as the marine bear&nbsp;<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolponomos">Kolponomos</a></em>.^{<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamogale_melilutra#cite_note-1">[1]</a>&nbsp;}The skull reveals a combination of otter-like and badger-like cranial and dental characteristics. The new species belongs to the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutrinae">Lutrinae</a>&nbsp;because of its possession of a large infraorbital canal and ventral expansion of the mastoid process, among other traits.^{<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamogale_melilutra#cite_note-2">[2]</a>}&nbsp;<em>Siamogale melilutra</em>&nbsp;was about 1.9&nbsp;m (6.25&nbsp;ft) in overall length and weighed at least 40&nbsp;kg (88 pounds).^{<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamogale_melilutra#cite_note-3">[3]</a>}&nbsp;The remains of the skull were found in China and were re-created with a special program called the CT scan which is able to reconstruct the skeleton without being damaged. (From&nbsp;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamogale_melilutra).</p> <p>This dataset was generated by Avizo 2020.2. It represents our reconstruction of the skull of&nbsp;Siamogale melilutra. The original CT files are available on MorphoSource.org, media&nbsp;000413248, DOI <a href="https://doi.org/10.17602/M2/M413248">10.17602/M2/M413248</a>. A mesh PLY file of the reconstructed skull generated from this Avizo dataset is also available at MorphoSource.org, media&nbsp;000413543, DoI <a href="https://doi.org/10.17602/M2/M413543">10.17602/M2/M413543</a>.</p>