Introduction to NYCEP Morphometrics Database
PRIMO (PRImate Morphology Online), the NYCEP Primate Morphology database, is a resource for
researchers who use metrical (including 3D) data to study aspects of
primate morphology and evolution. It permits downloading of data on
dentitions, crania and postcrania collected by members of the NYCEP
Morphometrics Group or archived by other colleagues for public
access. PRIMO was developed by Eric Delson, David P. Reddy and the
late Leslie F. Marcus with the assistance of Martin Friess, Stephen
R. Frost, Will Harcourt-Smith, Johann Kim, Julian Saunders,
Katherine St. John and Eric Ford, along with many student workers. The development
of PRIMO was financially supported by the National Science
Foundation, under awards ACI 99-82351, BCS 04-52961 and IIS 05-13660.
PRIMO is currently inoperative. We expect it to be functioning again soon.
To take full advantage of PRIMO, it is necessary to request a personal login (see below); to determine if PRIMO will be useful to you, it is possible to see its major components:
- login with username user and password primouser
- download excel file information for users which lists the number of specimens in the database by genus, to give an idea of coverage; and presents lists of variables, institutions, individuals who collected data and taxa recognized
- if desired, click Database Structure to see the layout of tables
- click Query Wizard to seek data
- choose type of data to search—scalar (e.g., caliper measures of linear distance, angles) or 3D (Microscribe landmark data); additional data types, such as laser scans, will be available in due course, as will additional geographical locality information and digital images of specimens
- subset the data by taxon, bodypart, and variable as desired; it is wisest to select bodypart before variable, in order to see only those variables relevant to the region selected
- if satisfied, click “organize data for viewing or download”
- click “display data” to view on screen or download all data selected OR click “customize fields to display,” in order to select data to be output in sequence, following directions
- download excel .CSV file (comma delimited text file) as desired
When using password primouser, data from only the first five specimens will be shown or downloadable. To obtain full access to public data, one must request a personal login.
Email Eric Delson, filling out the request form which will appear.
