FIG. 2 in Improving Vertebrate Skeleton Images: Fluorescence and the Non-Permanent Mounting of Cleared-and-Stained Specimens

FIG. 2. Comparisons under different lighting regimes of a cleared-andstained specimen of Bathymaster signatus (SIO 93-174; A, C, E, and G) and a fossilized specimen of †Tanaocrossus kalliokoskii (UMNH VP 22905; B, D, F, and H). The specimens are shown under (A–B) white lighting, (C–D) red fluorescence, and (E–F) green fluorescence. For the specimen of Bathymaster, these lighting regimes allow researchers to explore the relationship between soft-tissue and bony canals. This exploration is exemplified in the combined image (G) where the red fluorescent image is placed in the R channel and the green fluorescent image is placed in the G channel to combine these two images. For the specimen of †Tanaocrossus, these lighting regimes highlight the fluorescent fossil material relative to the non-fluorescent matrix (D, F). The images taken under white and fluorescent lighting can then be combined to illustrate the (H) fossilized material with the matrix removed by using the black areas of the fluorescent images as a mask to remove the matrix from the white light image. Scale bar is equal to 5 mm. Abbreviation: pt ¼ pterotic.