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The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: Delivering Information on Paleontology and Biogeography San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Faculty Publications Geology January 2015 The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: Delivering Information on Paleontology and Biogeography Jonathan R. Hendricks San Jose State University, [email protected] Alycia L. Stigall Ohio University - Main Campus, [email protected] Bruce S. Lieberman University of Kansas Main Campus, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/geol_pub Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Jonathan R. Hendricks, Alycia L. Stigall, and Bruce S. Lieberman. "The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: Delivering Information on Paleontology and Biogeography" Palaeontologia Electronica (2015): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.26879/153E This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Geology at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Palaeontologia Electronica http://palaeo-electronica.org The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: delivering information on paleontology and biogeography via the web Jonathan R. Hendricks, Alycia L. Stigall, and Bruce S. Lieberman The fundamental data of paleontology consist cern—which we focus on here—is practical in of taxonomically identified specimens of known nature and has to do with identifying fossil speci- spatiotemporal provenance that are curated in mens in hand sample and attaining information museum collections. Analyses of these data can about the spatiotemporal occurrences of taxa from lead to insights into biostratigraphy, macroevolu- what may be far-flung museum collections. tion, biogeography, phylogeny, and paleoecology. Short of having in-depth knowledge of a par- Although historical collections may contain speci- ticular group, identifications of fossils at lower taxo- mens of vague or indeterminate geographic and nomic levels still largely rely upon access to printed stratigraphic position, most paleontologists have literature, such as regional guides (e.g., Linsley, recorded these data with a high degree of precision 1994; Petuch, 1994; Feldmann and Hackathorn, for many years. One challenging problem with 1996; Davis, 1998; Peterson and Peterson, 2008; using paleontological collections for research, how- Wilson, 2014) and systematic treatments (e.g., ever, is making correct identifications of fossil Hendricks, 2009, 2015; Rode and Lieberman, material at lower taxonomic levels—in particular 2002; Stigall et al., 2014a; Wright and Stigall 2013, species, but also at the genus level. One aspect of 2014), or major compendia such as the Treatise of the challenge is philosophical in nature, and Invertebrate Paleontology (see Selden, 2012). involves the human activity of circumscribing spe- Such literature may be expensive, locked behind cies and higher taxa such that they best approxi- journal paywalls, out-of-print, and/or may also con- mate biological reality (see Hendricks et al., 2014; tain technical jargon that is inaccessible to non- Allmon, in press). This activity is the concern of the professionals and students, especially those new systematist, who makes such decisions based on to paleontology. An additional problem presented expert knowledge of a given group. Another con- by older literature is that it may not reflect current Keywords: paleontology; digitization; fossils; museums; biogeography; evolution Jonathan R. Hendricks. Department of Geology, San José State University, 307 Duncan Hall, One Washington Square, San José, California 95192, USA and Paleontological Research Institution. 1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA [email protected] Alycia L. Stigall. Department of Geological Sciences and Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, 316 Clippinger Laboratories, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA [email protected] Bruce S. Lieberman. Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Dyche Hall, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA [email protected] Hendricks, Jonathan R., Stigall, Alycia L., and Lieberman, Bruce S. 2015. The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: delivering information on paleontology and biogeography via the web. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.2.3E: 1–9 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1269-commentary-digital-atlas-of-ancient-life HENDRICKS, STIGALL, & LIEBERMAN: DIGITAL ATLAS taxonomic nomenclature. Finally, printed literature resources might be employed—especially in syn- itself is starting to have less appeal to many thesis with existing museum databasing and digiti- younger professional and amateur paleontologists, zation initiatives—to assist avocational, student, many of whom often go to the Internet first for infor- and professional paleontologists with fossil identifi- mation. cations by providing expert knowledge when it is An early and important development in the not otherwise directly available. In short, we view transition from print to digital presentations of fos- the digital atlas project as an attempt to provide sils was the PaleoBase series (e.g., MacLeod, expertly curated, focused context for the abun- 2001, 2003, 2010; MacLeod and Henderson, dance of newly digitized paleontological data that 2007). This series, which provides digital guides to are now becoming available online. We also com- both macro- and microfossils, emphasizing the ment below on the potential of the Digital Atlas of high-quality specimens in the collections of The Ancient Life to serve as a new resource for K-16 Natural History Museum, London, is available as a education and outreach. relational database via compact disk, though it is not available as a free, online resource. Other sem- PROJECT OVERVIEW inal developments include the numerous useful Focus web resources for paleontology that have been developed. The early standards in this regard were Generating a comprehensive atlas of ancient set first by the University of California Museum of life—especially at the species level—would be a Paleontology (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/ daunting task, whether undertaken in print or index.php) and the Paleontology Portal online. Even generating a simple listing of a major- (www.paleoportal.org). Subsequently, the Paleobi- ity of the described fossil species would be a mas- ology Database (www.paleobiodb.org) has also sive endeavor, and this is likely why no such list become a frequently used resource. Unprocessed, exists (the closest printed resource for marine ani- raw paleontological occurrence data may now be mal fossils is Sepkoski’s [2002] compendium, directly downloaded from many online museum which was tabulated at the generic level). Just as a databases and corresponding portals (e.g., the comprehensive, global list of plant species would Integrated Digitized Biocollections database, iDig- not be particularly useful to an amateur botanist Bio: www.idigbio.org), but these datasets—espe- trying to learn his or her local flora, a comprehen- cially if large—are often incomprehensible on their sive listing of fossil species (or even an atlas) own and provide little help with either identifying or would present an overwhelming amount of infor- enhancing understanding of fossil discoveries. mation and is perhaps more likely to result in mis- Most of these high-quality, successful, and admira- identification than a correct name. ble resources are not specifically structured to Generating multiple digital atlases, each assist with the identification of fossil species, focused on a particular region and time period, is a though there are some notable exceptions, includ- more manageable and useful approach. Avoca- ing the website of the Cincinnati Dry Dredgers (dry- tional paleontologists and students in paleontology dredgers.org). Thus, new open-access resources classes are often interested in building fossil col- are needed for both avocational and professional lections from localities near where they live, which paleontologists. are often from a single geological period. Likewise, To this end, we have developed the freely paleontological research is frequently focused on accessible Digital Atlas of Ancient Life: www.digita- temporally restricted fossil occurrences, often at latlasofancientlife.org/. Although the noun “atlas” is regional scales. Just as Roger Tory Peterson rec- typically used to refer to a bound collection of ognized that field guides should be composed at maps, another use of the term is a “volume con- the regional scale, embodied in his classic and taining illustrative plates, large engravings, etc., or highly effective works on birds (e.g., Peterson, the conspectus of any subject arranged in tabular 1980), it is most useful for digital atlases of fossils form” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). We apply to do the same. The development of three open the term in both senses, as we seek to provide access digital atlases are currently underway: photographic aids and associated content to help 1. The Ordovician Atlas of Ancient Life: Cincin- identify fossils, as well as to generate maps that nati Region United States (www.ordovicianat- demonstrate how species’ ranges vary over geo- las.org/). logical time scales. Here, we present the digital 2. The Pennsylvanian Atlas of Ancient Life: Mid- atlas project as a model for how web-based continent United States (pennsylvanianat- 2 PALAEO-ELECTRONICA.ORG las.org/). studies conducted by these workers had a strong 3. The Neogene Atlas of Ancient Life: South- stratigraphic
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