Credit: Nicholas D. Pyenson / NMNH Imaging / Smithsonian Institution
Digital reconstructions of Isthminia panamensis, a new fossil dolphin from Panama, bookend a photograph of the actual specimen, which is housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The image on the left is based on a normal map of a 3D model; the image on the right is based on a 3D model with enhanced shading for detail. These 3D models can also be visualized, downloaded and printed from the Smithsonian X 3D website at http://3d.si.edu