[Nhcoll-l] AI-based bone identification

Tue Feb 3 12:05:03 EST 2026

I am curious to hear if others have tried AI programs that you can train to
identify skeletal remains correctly. I have heard chatter about this, but
haven't heard anyone doing it yet. I identify bones fairly frequently and
so far have not found any of the free AI platforms to be accurate or useful
for this purpose. The best one so far has been iNaturalist/Seek, but even
that can often provide inaccurate identifications for species and will not
provide the specific bone.

While I do not do this often, I find using several AI platforms to help
narrow down the possibilities to be helpful. Using several platforms can
let me quickly see what trends they are picking up, which I can then use to
narrow down what family, genus, or species I should focus in on. That said,
I have seen many of the same issues that Steve mentioned, and will throw
out several of the suggestions as they are very clearly incorrect. I do
also want to note that I do not use AI frequently for this purpose and
typically only when I come across something that is outside of what I can
quickly narrow down myself. As far as the photos themselves, what Steve
already mentioned is what my experience has been as well.

Right now, what I find AI most helpful with is transcription of the field
notes or getting a description of the object. Just like with the bone
identifications, these are not always the most accurate and have issues,
but it can help speed things up. You will have to edit what the AI
generates, and you will have to be careful not to blindly follow what is
output, especially for transcriptions.

Best,

*Sariah Rushing*

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Natural History Collections Specialist

Lindsay Wildlife Experience

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On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 8:29 AM Sullivan, Steven <sulliv55 at miamioh.edu>
wrote:

> As part of a class assignment, my students occasionally use their
> preferred AI to ID specimens, including bones.  Results have been very
> mixed.
>
> Sometimes the AI is surprisingly accurate.  Results are best if the photo
> is clear, with a plain, contrasting  background  and the specimen is
> presented with minimal distortion from perspective or other compositional
> errors.  However, it is possible for three students to use the same photo
> and get different IDs, even if they use the same AI.  Similarly, simply
> asking for an accurately IDed bone to be IDed again after some intervening
> IDs may result in a misID the second time.
>
> We have a giraffe metatarsal scrimshawed with cape buffalo images that is
> often, but not always, IDed correctly to species, even in images without
> scale or other reference objects.  In contrast, deer cow, and other
> metacarpals are often IDed as the correct bone but not the correct
> species.
>
> The more articulated or jumbled the collection, the less accurate the ID.
> (eg articulated hands or paws are less often in the ballpark than are
> articulated ungulate lower limbs.)  With these specimens, while the
> anatomical ID may be more or less accurate, the species is pretty random,
> trending towards domesticated species or those that every little American
> kid learns (eg fox or deer, never jackal or antelope).  Similarly, the more
> complex the bones, the less accurate the ID. (eg Articulated cheetah
> vertebrae may be IDed as a fish spine).
>
> Since this is an optional part of an assignment, I have not approached any
> of this systematically but it seems that the more bones in the image, the
> less useful the AI is.  Image quality and composition always matters but,
> with bones, this is far less important than insects, plants, and field
> observations.  At this point, I'd say bone ID is correct often enough to be
> a neat thing that computers can do.  It is incorrect often enough (while
> still seeming to assert accuracy) that it is not very useful in helping
> people learn.  Nor does it provide enough discussion or rationalization of
> its assessment to help knowledgeable people use it to make decisions.  In
> contrast, AI is accurate enough at IDing manufactured items, even from
> pretty bad images, that I have adapted my assignments.
>
> Though none of the readily available, off-the-shelf AIs are really useful
> in my experience on bones, I can imagine that some kind of AI could be
> trained to be really accurate.
>
> --Steve
>
> On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 10:21 AM Battermann, Nora <battermann at snsb.de>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>>
>> Apologies for cross-posting.
>>
>>
>> I’m interested to find out whether anyone has experience using AI-based
>> tools/approaches to identify bones or skeletal elements from photographs.
>>
>>
>> The specific context is zooarchaeological assemblages, and I’m
>> particularly interested in whether AI has been used (successfully or
>> unsuccessfully) to determine if images of mixed bones/fragments contain
>> certain element types (e.g., phalanges, teeth, long bone fragments, etc.),
>> rather than to species level.
>>
>> If you’ve worked with any relevant software, models, workflows, or pilot
>> projects—or know of published or ongoing work in this area—I’d be very
>> grateful for any pointers or insights.
>>
>>
>> Many thanks in advance,
>> Nora
>>
>>
>> ---------
>> Dr. Nora Battermann
>> Koordination Sammlungsmanagement
>>
>>
>> SNSB – Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
>> Zentrale Einrichtungen
>>
>> Tel.: +49 (0)174 2762445
>>
>> www.snsb.de
>>
>>
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>
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