DOI: 10.5061/dryad.msbcc2fwv
title: Anatomy, variation, and asymmetry of the bronchial tree in the African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus)

description: The avian respiratory system includes an immobilized, nearly
 volume-constant, gas-exchanging lung connected to a set of air sacs that
 fill the body cavity. These micro-computed tomography (µCT) scans of
 deceased African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) were used to analyse
 anatomical variation in the the gas-exchanging lung by taking
 select metrics and by generating 3D surface models of airways.
 The data include select portions of eleven axial µCT
 image series taken every 94.19–97.23 µm and one
 axial µCT series taken every 41.08 µm.
description: Eleven adult deceased specimens of P.
 erithacus were intubated and inflated with a 60cc syringe
 before imaging on a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT at the University of
 Utah. One specimen was re-inflated at a later date using the same method
 and scanned at higher resolution on an X-Tek HMXST225 µCT at Harvard’s
 Center for Nanoscale Systems in Cambridge, MA. All parrots died of natural
 causes that did not include respiratory disease. Each bird was renamed to
 preserve anonymity.
description: <b>African grey parrot 1,
 “Aristotle”:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT) scan of an intact,
 deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The specimen was
 intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc syringe before
 being scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a Siemens
 Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kVP 80; slice thickness 94.19 µm). 630 images from
 the full body scan have been selected that contain the gas-exchanging
 lung. <b>African grey parrot 2,
 “Euripides”</b><b>:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before being scanned in ventral recumbency at the University of
 Utah on a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kVP 80; slice thickness 94.22 µm).
 560 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 3,
 “Socrates”</b><b>:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before being scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of
 Utah on a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kVP 80; slice thickness 94.19 µm).
 430 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 4,
 “Zeno”</b><b>:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT) scan
 of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a
 Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kVP 80; slice thickness 91.85 µm). 550
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 5,
 “Aristophanes”</b><b>: </b>micro-computed tomography
 (µCT) scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>.
 The specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a
 Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvP 80; slice thickness 97.19 µm). 570
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 6,
 “Homer”</b><b>: </b>micro-computed tomography (µCT) scan
 of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a
 Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 94.38 µm). 570
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 7,
 “Pythagoras”</b><b>: </b>micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a
 Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 97.23 µm). 600
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 8,
 “Aeschylus”</b><b>:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in ventral recumbency at the University of Utah on
 a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 97.23 µm). 570
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 9,
 “Sophocles”</b><b>:</b> micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in ventral recumbency at the University of Utah on
 a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 94.22 µm). 600
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot
 10, “Plato”</b><b>: </b>micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in ventral recumbency at the University of Utah on
 a Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 97.23 µm). 600
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot
 11, “Meno”</b><b>: </b>micro-computed tomography (µCT)
 scan of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in dorsal recumbency at the University of Utah on a
 Siemens Inveon PET/SPECT/µCT (kvp 80; slice thickness 97.19 µm). 560
 images from the full body scan have been selected that contain the
 gas-exchanging lung. <b>African grey parrot 3,
 High-resolution “Socrates”: </b>micro-computed tomography (µCT) scan
 of an intact, deceased <i>Psittacus erithacus</i>. The
 specimen was intubated and the respiratory system inflated with a 60cc
 syringe before scanned in ventral recumbency at Harvard’s Center for
 Nanoscale Systems in Cambridge, MA on an X-Tek HMXST225 µCT (kVP 75; slice
 thickness 41.08 µm). The entire scan was restricted to the region of the
 gas-exchanging lung. All 1587 slices containing data (exported image
 format: TIFF) are included here.