During the active phase of the FOSSIL project, 3D printing of fossils and related technologies advanced considerably and became popular, with applications for both research and education (Zeigler et al., 2020, Frontiers in Earth Science). Scans of 70 3D fossils were uploaded by members of the FOSSIL community. These are primarily represented by 45 foraminifera (many also linked to https://foraminifera.eu/) included in the archived database below (but without the images, which are sourced elsewhere).
The database also includes other images, mostly of assorted vertebrates, the latter of which are archived here. The anthracothere mammal (3D-59) and four other specimens (3D-63 through 3D-66), collected by Julie Niederkorn, from the Belgrade, North Carolina mine were later catalogued into the Florida Museum and Smithsonian collections and are formally described in a Journal of Paleontology article (MacFadden et al., 2025). Likewise, the Pliocene river dolphin mandible (3D-69) and cranium (3D-70) reconstructions were catalogued into the USNM (Smithsonian) collections and subsequently published (Pyenson et al., 2015) as a new species Isthminia panamensis.
Archived Database and Access to 3D Fossil Specimens
The database of specimen metadata, archived from myfossil.org may be viewed below or downloaded here: myFOSSIL 3D Gallery images
For access to the 3D Gallery images that we have permission to reproduce, contact fossil@flmnh.ufl.edu.