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Tools
One direction of the lab is to develop a lil ecosystem of tools designed to help others research and conserve freshwater mussels.
MusselMapR – a web app designed to help folks navigate US freshwater mussel collections data! This resource includes >410k voucher-based occurrences synthesized from 45 US natural history museums.
Unioverse – a genomic toolkit designed to facilitate more data-rich and taxonomically inclusive reconstructions of freshwater mussel evolution. This target capture probe set works across the freshwater mussel tree of life and captures >500 phylogenetically informative loci.
3D Library – this tool is designed to create an easily accessible 3D library of the world’s freshwater mussel species. Stakeholders can interact with digital twins of Smithsonian specimens via a web viewer, augmented reality, or by 3d printing. This resource is aimed at increasing accessibility of rare species, precious specimens, and the Smithsonian’s world class freshwater mussel collection more generally.
Freshwater Mussel Biorepository – In collaboration with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, we are working towards creating a centralized repository of freshwater mussel genetic resources. This project aims to create, grow, and maintain a permanent DNA/tissue library that all stakeholders can freely use and contribute to.
#Shellfie – this is a mass digitization effort aimed at creating images of all the freshwater mussel records at NMNH. For all 24,000 NMNH freshwater mussel records we will be imaging up to 3 individuals. Each individual will be imaged in three orientations: external, internal, and dorsal. We are using these images along with artificial intelligence, computer vision, and morphometrics to extract trait data (shell shape, size, and condition) to better understand how mussel morphology varies within and between species. To date we have created 100k images!