A giant database of over 2000 ant species in 3D, generated from micro-CT scans at micrometer resolution, democratizes access to extremely detailed morphology for researchers, artists, and educators.

Antscan used high-throughput X-ray micro-CT scanning powered by a synchrotron particle accelerator. These 3D images don’t merely show the exterior exoskeleton of the ants, but also reveal their internal structures like muscles, nervous system, digestive system, and stingers in extreme detail. A new Nature Methods paper presents both the data and the workflow that acquired it, providing a blueprint for large-scale quantification projects in the future. The database has already been used to answer fundamental questions about ant biology, and many more projects are underway.

Long believed to be a single species hopping along stream banks across Borneo, a common rainforest frog is revealing itself to be several different species. It’s also leaving scientists with questions about just how many unrecognized species have been hiding in plain sight, and how to protect biodiversity in the evolutionary “gray zone.”