AutoMorph: Accelerating morphometrics with automated 2D and 3D image processing and shape extraction

Abstract

Large-scale, comparative studies of morphological variation are rare due to the time-intensive nature of shape quantification. This data gap is important to address, as intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation underpins and reflects ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we detail a novel software package, AutoMorph, for high-throughput object and shape extraction. AutoMorph can batch image many types of organisms (e.g. foraminifera, molluscs and fish teeth), allowing for rapid generation of assemblage-scale morphological data. We used AutoMorph to image and generate 2D and 3D morphological data for >100,000 marine microfossils in about a year. Our collaborators have used AutoMorph to process >12,000 patellogastropod shells and >50,000 fish teeth. AutoMorph allows users to rapidly produce large amounts of morphological data, facilitating community-scale evolutionary and ecological studies. To hasten the adoption of automated approaches, we have made AutoMorph freely available and open source. AutoMorph runs on all UNIX-like systems; future versions will run across all platforms.