Our quantitative analysis of scale-by-scale patterning in multiple species of lizards published online 3 weeks ago in Current Biology makes today the cover of the printed version (vol 32 number 23, Dec. 5, 2022). The image is by Fabrice Berger.
Please, check the original article for details:
Modelling Convergent Scale-by-Scale Skin Colour Patterning in Multiple Species of Lizards
Ebrahim Jahanbakhsh & Michel C. Milinkovitch
Current Biology 32 (23), 5069-5082.e13 (2022)
See the initial news here.
The technology behind the cover image
The cover shows a young adult ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus). To obtain this image, the animal was scanned with our in-house high-resolution scanning system by Adrien Debry and Florent Montange, the 3D model was then reconstructed using structure-from-motion and photometric stereo by Szabolcs Zakany and Ebrahim Jahanbakhsh, then retouched by Fabrice Berger, then rigged and animated by Sherif Megahed, then rendered in Unreal Engine by Fabrice Berger who generated the final image.
You can see a video of the animated 3D model at 5:17-5:39 in the summary video.
