--> Abstract: Re-Preserving the Past Again: Developing GIS Compatible Biogeographic Fossil Datasets from Multiple Sources, by R. A. Mackenzie III and M. M. Yacobucci; #90087 (2009).
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Re-Preserving the Past Again: Developing GIS Compatible Biogeographic Fossil Datasets from Multiple Sources

R. A. Mackenzie III1 and M. M. Yacobucci2
1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 USA; email, [email protected]
2Department of Geology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA; email, [email protected]

The body of paleontologic work in the last two centuries is immense. The resources devoted to describing and producing thousands of specimens, articles, monographs, and maps is equally substantial. A method to preserve, store, and simplify the use of these materials is essential to maximizing the return on the investments made by these paleontologists. Advancements in data management, Previous HitgeographicNext Hit Previous HitinformationNext Hit Previous HitsystemsNext Hit (GIS), Global Positioning Previous HitSystemsNext Hit (GPS), and cartography have provided a method of achieving this goal. An example of storing this type paleontologic Previous HitinformationNext Hit in a GIS-compatible bio-Previous HitgeographicNext Hit dataset is presented for Western Interior invertebrates. The inventory was compiled from over 200 sources, including several museum collections, published databases, and relevant publications, to provide Previous HitinformationNext Hit on over 20,000 individual invertebrate occurrences from over 2,000 different localities.

GIS compatible biogeographic datasets may answer many questions related to invertebrate diversity, ecology, evolution, extinction, and morphology. Only recently have GIS and PaleoGIS been applied to address these important paleobiogeographic problems. The new dataset of invertebrate localities was constructed to produce quantifiable biogeographic Previous HitinformationNext Hit using simple techniques with EXCEL and GIS software. It is hoped that this inventory and subsequent biogeographic range maps will provide Previous HitinformationNext Hit on morphologic variation in geospace, Previous HitgeographicNext Hit range variation comparison with an ammonoid taxon's origination and extinction rates, and the geography of mass extinction and recovery.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90087 © 2008 AAPG/SEG Student Expo, Houston, Texas