This collection includes computed tomography (CT) scans of the cranial remains of Sanajeh indicus, a Late Cretaceous snake from Gujarat, India. In addition to the holotype (described by Wilson et al., 2010), a referred specimen (Zaher et al., 2022) has been collected from Dholi Dungri. The holotype includes a 'cranial block' (GSI/GC/2903) and the referred specimen also includes a partial skull (GSI/GC/DD4).
Both holotypic and referred specimens are housed in Geological Survey of India Palaeontology Division, Central Region in Nagpur, India. For assistance with access, please contact Dhananjay Mohabey ( dinomohabey@yahoo.com) or Bandana Samant ( bandanabhu@gmail.com). Casts of selected elements of Sanajeh indicus are available at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology.
Snake venom research has historically focused on front-fanged species (Viperidae and Elapidae), limiting our knowledge of venom evolution in rear-fanged snakes across their ecologically-diverse phylogeny. Three finger toxins (3FTxs) are a known neurotoxic component in the venoms of some rear-fanged snakes (Colubrinae, Colubridae), but it is unclear how prevalent 3FTxs are both in expression within venom glands and more broadly among colubrine species. Here, we used a transcriptomic approach to characterize the venom expression profiles of four species of colubrine snakes from Neotropics that were dominated by 3FTx expression (in the genera Chironius, Oxybelis, Rhinobothryum, and Spilotes) and reconstructed the gene trees of 3FTxs. Overall, our results highlight the importance of exploring the venoms of understudied species in reconstructing the full evolutionary history of toxins across the tree of life.
Srodawa, K., Cerda, P.A., Davis Rabosky, A.R., Crowe-Riddell, J.M. Evolution of Three Finger Toxin Genes in Neotropical Colubrine Snakes (Colubridae). Toxins 2023, 15(9), 523; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15090523
The Novel Sensors for Autonomous Vehicle Perception Collection of datasets are sequences collected with an autonomous vehicle platform including data from novel sensors. The dataset collection platform is a Ford Fusion vehicle with a roof-mounted novel sensing suite, which specifically consists of forward-facing stereo uncooled thermal cameras (FLIR 40640U050-6PAAX), event cameras (iniVation DVXplorer), monochrome cameras (FLIR BFS-PGE-16S2M), and RGB cameras (FLIR BFS-PGE-50S5C) time synchronized with ground truth poses from a high precision navigation system. Sequences include ~8 km routes, driven repeatedly under varying lighting conditions and/or opposing viewpoints. Further information and resources are available on the project website: https://umautobots.github.io/nsavp