February 28, 2013

Ultimate Croc Anatomy!

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What does ambition look like in a scientific illustrator?

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If you are following the #sciart hashtag on Twitter or belong to the GNSI sciart listserv you already know Mieke Roth is an accomplished scientific illustrator. Recently,she was featured in MAKE Magazine for her 3D render of the anatomy of an octopus, the same one we showed you here on Symbiartic last September.

How do you follow up a fan-favorite of science fans like an octopus? You get badass: you render a Nile Crocodile.

: © Mieke Roth - click on the image to see a larger version of this big fella.

Mieke, from the Ultimate Crocodile Anatomy site:

"This year I will digitize a Nile crocodile – and you will have a front row seat behind the scenes."

How did this come about?

"John Hutchinson, Professor of Biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College of the London University and a regular advisor for the BBC regarding dinosaurs and other big and cool animals, offered me the use of his lab and plenty of Nile crocodiles to dissect. Of course I jumped at the opportunity."

You can find John Hutchinson on Twitter @JohnRHutchinson. An evolutionary biomechanist who knows a good idea when he sees one.

To do it, Mieke has turned to science fans for help: you can donate to this Herculean effort to digitize a whole Nile Crocodile by contributing at the Ultimate Croc Anatomy IndiGoGo site - and things are getting interesting. The first artistic steps are imminent.

C'mon. It's a digital 3D Nile Crocodile, inside and out. And Roth has the ambition and skill to do it.

Ultimate: totally.

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Mieke Roth portfolio (also an alternate in Dutch)

@MiekeRoth on Twitter

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Ultimate Croc Anatomy site

@Ultimate_crocon Twitter

YouTube

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