Developing Digital Paleontological Collections: Searching, Visualizing, and Measuring Virtual Specimens

获取世界各地的古生物标本增加了进化生物学研究的成本和时间。虽然目前有许多电子数据库命名了存放北美脊椎动物标本和/或集合的设施（例如FAUNMAP）*，但现有的数据库尚未包含单个标本的详细描述性信息。已公布的化石标本数据因标本而异。取决于出版物的性质和研究者的研究兴趣。其他研究不同问题的研究人员不一定能找到与他们自己的数据和样本相媲美的已发表数据。提出的努力将通过开发收集或汇编古生物样本数字表示的方法来解决生物学研究中的这些问题。有效存储和编目这些数字表示的数据库方法是在分布式数字档案网络中定位标本的搜索引擎。以及通过互联网对这些数字表示进行交互式可视化和测量。现有各种技术用于创建物理对象的数字表示，可以同时访问和交互式测量世界各地收集的标本。这样的表示可以从简单的摄影与选定的视角视图到由医学成像CT扫描仪创建的全体积表示。每种方法在空间表示的性质和准确性方面都有独特的特点。还有成本。提出的努力将为古生物样品开发标准化的数字化方法和适当的模型，以估计来自这些不同类型的数字表示的测量的不确定性。有效地访问这些数字表示将需要应用数据库方法，这些方法涵盖了对物理标本进行编目的传统需求，以及捕获样品数字化方法的相关方面。这项工作将强调可伸缩架构的开发，该架构将允许在许多分布式机构之间实现变化，以适应它们的可用资源。这些分布式数据库将通过互联网搜索引擎前端访问。然后可以选择这些数据库中的样本，并使用面向对象的编程方法来提供适合于给定类型的数字表示的交互式可视化和测量。交互式测量将补充由几何误差模型得出的空间不确定性估计。这些模型将通过描述每个项目的数据捕获方法和环境的数据库记录进行参数化。该系统将与古生物学研究人员直接合作开发，并将使用来自安佐博雷戈国家公园和华盛顿大学伯克博物馆的各种猛犸象的牙齿标本进行开发和测试。西雅图。从世界各地的档案中迅速将新发现的标本与客观、详尽和可公开访问的数字表示联系起来的能力，将支持生物学以及考古学等其他学科的大量科学研究。此外。这种能力对博物馆、图书馆和K= 12教育来说是无价的。摘要1998年7月25日

Accessing paleontological specimens curated at facilities throughout the world increases both the cost and time required for research in evolutionary biology. Although a number of electronic databases currently name the facility where specimens and/or assemblages of North American vertebrate collections are housed (e.g. FAUNMAP)* no existing database yet contains detailed descriptive information on individual specimens. Published data for fossil specimens varies greatly from specimen to specimen. depending on the nature of the publication and the research interests of the investigator. Other researchers addressing different issues cannot necessarily find published data that is comparable to their own data and specimens. The proposed effort will address these problems in biological research by developing: methods for collecting or compiling digital representations of paleontological samples. database methods for efficiently storing and cataloging these digital representations a search-engine for locating specimens in a distributed network of digital archives. and interactive visualization and measurement of these digital representations across the internet. A variety of techniques exists for creating digital representations of physical objects that could allow simultaneous access and interactive measurements of specimens from collections throughout the World. Such representations may range from simple photography with selected perspective views to full volumetric representations created by a medical imaging CT scanner. Each method will have unique characteristics in terms of the nature and accuracy of their spatial representation. as well as cost. The proposed effort will develop standardized digitizing methods for paleontological samples and appropriate models for estimating the uncertainty of measurements derived from these various types of digital representations. Efficient access to these digital representations will require the appli cation of database methods that cover the traditional needs for cataloging physical specimens as well as capturing relevant aspects of the methods by which the sample was digitized. This effort will emphasize the development of a scalable architecture that will allow the implementation to vary among a number of distributed institutions, in order to accommodate their available resources. These distributed databases will be accessed through an intemet search engine front-end. Specimens in these databases can then be selected and object-oriented programming methods will be used to provide interactive visualization and measurements that are appropriate for the given type of digital representation. Interactive measurements will be supplemented with estimates of spatial uncertainty derived from models of geometric error. These models will be parameterized by database records describing the methods and circumstances of data capture for each item. Abslxact July 25, 1998 1 This system will be developed in direct collaboration with paleontological researchers and will be developed and tested using dental specimens of various species of mammoth from Anzo Borrego National Park and the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. Seattle. The ability to rapidly relate newly recovered specimens to objective, exhaustive and publicly accessible digital representations from archives around the wo~d would support a vast array of scientific investigations in biology, as well as other disciplines like archeology. In addition. this capability will prove invaluable to museums, libraries, and K= 12 education. Abstract July 25, 1998 2