View fossils in 3D
Scans and models of the remains of prehistoric life
The models presented below are a series of scans taken of many different types of fossils which were generously provided by Bernard Means and the Virtual Curation Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University. To open these 3D scans, click on the model previews. You will then be able to click and drag in order to rotate and view the models from different angles.
You can also find more models or further information about the VCL project by visiting the VCL website and Sketchfab page
American Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
The American Mastodon was a large proboscidean found in North America from the end of the Miocene epoch to the end of the Pleistocene epoch. These animals tended to be shorter and stockier than mammoths and would have had cusped teeth used to break down woody vegetation. They also lack the domed forehead seen in the skulls of most mammoths.
Learn more about Mastodons by visiting our entry about these animal in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Mastodon Right Molar 3
Description - (VCU_3D_2895): This mastodon molar was 3D scanned with a NextEngine Desktop 3D scanner at the Western Science Center’s Valley of the Mastodons workshop and conference in August 2017. The molar is from the Yukon and was brought from the Yukon Beringia Interpretative Center by Yukon Paleontonologist Grant Zazula. Specimen number YG 26.1. Courtesy of the Yukon Beringia Interpretative Center.
Cohoes Mastodon Tusk
Description - (VCU_3D_3634): This tusk of the Cohoes Mastodon was 3D scanned on May 31, 2018 with a Go!Scan 50 at the New York State Museum. Museum Specimen Number VP101. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Cohoes Mastodon Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3632): This skull of the Cohoes Mastodon was 3D scanned on May 30 and May 31, 2018 with a Go!Scan 50 at the New York State Museum. Portions of the interior of the maxilla and mandible and the back of the skull could not be fully scanned because of the support structure for the skeletal mount. As the tusks were replicas, due to the fragile nature of the real tusks, these replica tusks were not 3D scanned. A planned return visit to the New York State Museum will attempt to capture additional 3D data from the skull. Museum Specimen Number VP101. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Baby Mastodon Mandible
Description - (VCU_3D_3209): This baby mastodon (Mammut americanum) mandible is from the Carter Bog site in Darke County, Ohio. It was 3D scanned with GoScan 50 at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. Courtesy of the Dayton Society of Natural History.
Mammoths (M. columbi, M. primigenius)
During the Pleistocene epoch North America would have been home to both Columbian mammoths and woolly mammoths. Woolly mammoths were found further north and Columbian mammoths were found as far south as southern Mexico. Separating the to can sometimes be complicated since populations of these species often interbred with one another
Learn more about Mammoths by visiting our entries about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Mammoth Tusk
Description - (VCU_3D_7852): The Randolph mammoth was discovered in May 1934 in Cattaraugus County, New York, near the town of Randolph. This tusk from a Colombian mammoth was 3-D scanned at the New York State Museum in May 2023 using a Go!Scan 50 3-D scanner. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Randolph Mammoth Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3629): This mammoth skull is currently part of the Ice Ages exhibit at the New York State Museum. Because of this, the skull could only be 3D scanned with a Go!Scan 50 from the top and sides. A subsequent visit is anticipated to 3D scan the remainder of the fossil. Museum specimen number VP95. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Mammoth molar
Description - (VCU_3D_7842): This fossil was captured 11 May 2023 using a Go!Scan 50 at the New York State Museum. Courtesy of the New York State Museum which makes this model freely downloadable for non-commercial research, educational, and public outreach purposes.
Dire Wolf (Aenocyon dirus)
For most of the history of the study of their fossils, dire wolves were classified as members of the same genus as living wolves and dogs. More recent research seems to indicate that they were descended from their own line of canids who separately diversified in the Americas, leading to these animals being placed in a new genus, Aenocyon.
Learn more about dire wolves by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Dire Wolf Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3214): This dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) wolf skull is from the La Brea tar pits but is in the collection of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. It was 3D scanned with a GoScan 50. The mandible is wired to the skull, which meant that portions of the skull could not be 3D scanned. Courtesy of the Dayton Society of Natural History.
Smilodon fatalis
Smilodon was a genus of saber-toothed cats once found in parts of North and South America. Among their closest relatives, Smilodon had some of the longest saber teeth, reaching over 10 inches long in some cases, including the root. These sabers seem to have been relatively fragile and fossils evidence shows that these delicate teeth sometimes broke while hunting.
Learn more about Smilodon by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Smilodon Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3615): This saber-toothed cat fossil is from the La Brea Tar Pits. It was originally cataloged as Smilodon californicus, a type usually subsumed today into Smilodon fatalis. The fossil was 3D scanned with a Go!Scan 50 at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery on May 24, 2018. The mandible is wired to the cranium so not all aspects of the fossil could be properly 3D scanned. The fossil is real except for the canines, which are casts. Museum specimen G-28039. Courtesy of the Dayton Society of Natural History.
Platygonus compressus
Platygonus was an extinct type of peccary that was found in the Americas from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene epoch. These animals are sometimes called "flat-headed peccaries", a name which refers to the relatively uniform slopes of their nasal bones and the bones of their foreheads.
Learn more about Platygonus by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Platygonus Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3628): This skull of the extinct peccary (Platygonus compressus) was 3D scanned with a Go!Scan 50 at the New York State Museum on May 30, 2018. This skull is currently part of the Ice Ages exhibition. Museum specimen number VP46. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Bison latifrons
Bison latifrons, also known as the giant bison, was the largest bovid found in Pleistocene North America. Its horns could span over 7 feet across from tip to tip and they stood taller than an adult human at the shoulder. Weight estimates for these animals suggest that they could have grown to be as big as today's rhinos.
Learn more about Bison latifrons by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Bison latifrons Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3937): This skull was found during construction of the Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet, California. It is currently on exhibit at the Western Science Center in Hemet. The skull was removed from its exhibit on September 10, 2018 for 3D scanning with a Go!Scan 50 and is associated with a horn. Courtesy of the Western Science Center.
Bison latifrons Horn
Description - (VCU_3D_3936): This horn was found during construction of the Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet, California. It is currently on exhibit at the Western Science Center in Hemet. The horn was removed from its exhibit on September 10, 2018 for 3D scanning with a Go!Scan 50 and is associated with a skull. Courtesy of the Western Science Center.
Bootherium bombifrons
The woodland muskox, Bootherium bombifrons, was a type of muskox that once lived in parts of the Midwest and the Great Plains. Although they look very similar to bison or cows, the closest relatives of muskoxen are actually sheep and goats. The horns over their foreheads were joined together along the middle of the skull instead of being separated by an open gap.
Learn more about Bootherium by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Bootherium Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_4139): This skull of a Bootherium bombifrons is the holotype and was collected by William Clark and George Rogers Clark from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky for Thomas Jefferson. It was 3-D scanned with a Go!Scan 50 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelpha on December 10, 2018 with funding from a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Seed Grant entitled “3-D Digital Ice Age Mastodon and Mammoth Skeletal Remains.” Specimen number 12994. Courtesy of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Castoroides ohioensis
Castoroides, also known as the giant beaver, was possibly the largest rodent ever to live in North America. It could probably have grown to be as heavy as a black bear and each of its incisors was over five inches long. These animals do not seem to have been adapted for cutting down trees and instead would have browsed on aquatic vegetation in ponds and lakes.
Learn more about Castoroides by visiting our entry about these animals in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Castoroides Skull
Description - (VCU_3D_3639): This giant beaver skull was 3D scanned with a Go!Scan 50 at the New York State Museum on May 31, 2018. It was found in Wayne County, New York. Museum Specimen Number VP 47. Courtesy of the New York State Museum.
Megalonyx jeffersonii
Megalonyx was a type of ground sloth once found across most of North America all the way up until the very end of the Pleistocene epoch. Unlike many other types of ground sloths, who often walked on the sides of their feet, Megalonyx would have walked with the soles of its feet planted on the ground. It had a short snout and distinctive tusk-like insisors
Learn more about Megalonyx by visiting our entry about this sloth in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Megalonyx Skull Reconstruction
Description - (VCU_3D_3996): Reconstructed skull of a Megalonyx by Ray Voden of the Virginia Museum of Natural History based on a fossil found at the Carter Bog site in Ohio and held at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. The red portions are reconstructed while the non-red portions are a cast of the original fossil. It was 3-D scanned with a GoScan! 50 on October 19, 2018. Courtesy of the Dayton Society of Natural History and the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
Megalonyx Claw With Nail
Description - (VCU_3D_5214): This giant ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii) with intact finger nail was recovered from Big Bone Cave, Tennessee. It was 3-D scanned with a NextEngine Desktop 3-D scanner on March 11, 2020 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Repository specimen number ANSP 12487. Courtesy of the Academy of Natural Sciences. The Virginia Commonwealth University Humanities Research Center supported the research trip that made this scanning effort possible.
Megalonyx Mandible
Descritption - (VCU_3D_3943): This giant ground sloth mandible is currently on exhibit at the Western Science Center. It was removed from the exhibt for 3D scanning on September 10, 2018 and was 3D scanned with a Go!Scan 50. Courtesy of the Western Science Center.
Paramylodon harlani
Paramylodon harlani, also known as Harlan's ground sloth, was a large terrestrial sloth native to North America. It had a fairly long snout and is well represented by dozens of skeletons found at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Footprints of a Paramylodon were also found in associated with human tracks at White Sands National Monument.
Learn more about Paramylodon by visiting our entry about this sloth in our Pleistocene Field Guide
Paramylodon Osteoderm
Description - (VCU_3D_8386): This fossil was 3-D scanned with a NextEngine Desktop scanner on 10 December 2024. Courtesy of Kevin Jones who has agreed to make this 3-D scan freely downloadable for non-commercial educational, outreach, and research purposes. A small plate of bony armor which would have been embedded in the skin of the sloth in life.
Paramylodon Claw
Description - (VCU_3D_3090): This fossil was 3D scanned at the Western Science Center on December 14, 2017 using a NextEngine Desktop 3D scanner. Courtesy of the Western Science Center.