The sequence of images on the cover animation shows the specimen and subject of this study transformed from a photograph of the amber enclosed Anolis lizard skull to a digitally rendered 3D polygon surface model (prepared by Michael J. Polcyn). To produce the animation a series of digital cross sections of the amber specimen were acquired using high resolution computed tomography. The resultant stack of slices, representing a 3D relative density matrix, was then processed using an iso-surface extraction algorithm at a defined density threshold, yielding a detailed polgyon surface model. This model was then imported into a commercial rendering and animation package, aligned with the approximate projection and orientation of the skull in the backdrop photograph, and rendered as still images. The images were then imported into Quicktime 5, with a frame length of 5 seconds and saved as self contained movies. The movies were then processed with a custom program based on Apple's Quicktime SDK to crossfade the two movies over the five second period, with the surface of the polygon model transitioning from transparent to opaque over the series of frames. From this issue (Computed Tomography of an Anolis Lizard in Dominican Amber: Systematic, Taphonomic, Biogeoraphic, and Evolutionary Implications Polcyn et al.).
QuickTime is required and available for download from Apple.