Research Facilities:
Anatomical Sciences

The Department of Anatomical Sciences has a variety of research facilities based within faculty laboratories and in special laboratories. The facilities cover preparation and molding/casting of fossil material, analysis of comparative anatomy and functional morphology, and microscopic analysis of tissue samples.

The Vertebrate Fossil Preparation Laboratory, built in 2002, is state-of-the-art and contains, among other equipment, an industrial air compressor and dust collector (both in a specially designed soundproof room), Nikon stereomicroscopes, two fume hoods, three work stations, custom-built workboxes, rock saws, hydraulic lift, a broad range of pneumatic, airbrasive, and manual tools, and a vacuum system for molding and casting specimens. Equipment and space are also available for the chemical preparation of fossils. Facilities for the storage of Cretaceous vertebrate fossil collections from Madagascar, Mali, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and China, as well as specimens from the Paleocene of the western U.S. are located in the laboratories of various researchers.

Morphometric data capture is possible in three or two dimensions via a portable Microscribe 3-DX digitizer and an Altek Datalab backlit X-ray digitizer, respectively. Mainframe computing (e.g., IBM-VM) is possible via an Ethernet connection. Commercial and customized software packages for statistical analysis and for phylogenetic reconstruction are available. Development of the new online collaborative workspace for morphological phylogenetics, MorphoBank.org, is based at Stony Brook.

The Functional Morphology and Primate Locomotion Laboratory contains the basic equipment necessary to conduct EMG, kinematic, and kinetic studies. This equipment for EMG recording is composed of two four-channel electromyographic telemetry systems (Bio-Sentry Telemetry, Inc., Torrance, CA); video cameras, recorders, and a special-effects generator necessary for synchronous superimposed recordings of physiological parameters and subject behavior. Equipment for kinetic studies includes two AMTI BP400600 force platforms, a Vishay Measurements Group multi-channel amplifier set for measurement of bone strain using implantable strain gages, and a LabView-based computer system for analog to digital data conversion, storage, and analysis. Equipment for the study of kinematics includes a Peak Performance Motion Analysis System with six shuttered high-speed camera/VCR units, automatic and manual video acquisition software, a fully integrated 3-D full-body gait analysis package, and an 18-channel analog data acquisition system for the synchronized collection and processing of EMG, force transducer, and strain signals. The optical component of the system captures video at 180 fields per sec. In addition, a NAC HotShot 1280 digital HSV system (20 kHz max. frame rate), a Mac dual 2.5 GHz G5 digital video capture/processing/analysis workstation, and a small, custom-built force platform for small animals are available in an individual faculty laboratory.

The Division of Laboratory Animal Resources provides adequate facilities for housing and maintenance of experimental animals. It provides equipment for administration of anesthesia and renders excellent veterinary care. Surgical suites and radiographic equipment are available in the facilities.

A Zeiss stereo zoom (Discovery.V12) and an upright compound (Axioskop 2 Plus) microscope, an American Optical rotary and a sliding microtome, and other histological equipment for the microscopic study of tissue samples are available in an individual faculty laboratory.

In addition to the research facilities listed above, the Department of Anatomical Sciences houses an anatomical museum containing an assortment of comparative osteological material and an extensive collection of fossil casts documenting primate and human evolutionary history.