Legacy Database of the Panama Paleontology Project

巴拿马古生物学项目遗留数据库佛罗里达国际大学laurel S. Collins和Anthony G. coatesears摘要科学家们要更好地了解环境变化对热带地区高度多样化但知之甚少的动物群的影响，他们需要更详细的、按时间顺序排列的信息。本项目建立了巴拿马古生物学项目（PPP）收集的热带化石信息的关系数据库，通过互联网提供，并将其链接到一个系统，该系统将自动将年龄更新为最新的标准地质时间尺度，并不断使用新数据对其进行完善。PPP的化石收藏主要是来自中美洲和南美洲的有孔虫、软体动物、鱼类、珊瑚、介形虫和苔藓虫，这些化石收藏在世界主要博物馆中。这些化石的年代得到了非常好的确定，这使得它们对热带进化、地质学、生物地理学和环境变化的精细研究具有宝贵的价值。目前，来自7个国家的40多名科学家根据这些收藏出版了180多种科学出版物；然而，为了继续研究，目前的信息需要补充，年龄需要标准化到一个单一的时间尺度。PPP数据库的结构将基于数据类别关系的数据模型，为用户提供网络界面，并链接到国际地层学委员会的时间尺度创建者程序，以便将来更新最新的地质年龄信息。目前可在www.fiu.edu/~collinsl/pppdatabase.html上获得的现有收藏信息也将更新，包括来自巴拿马、哥斯达黎加、委内瑞拉和厄瓜多尔的新收藏（约825个地点和约2000条记录）。该项目的主要活动是：向数据库中添加新的记录和信息，为所有动物样本提供更新的年龄，实现作为关系数据库的数据模型，使整个数据库可在web上使用，并使将来自动更新最新的年龄信息。额外的数据将从诸如实地笔记、出版物和生物地层学家的报告等文件中提取。确定年龄的一般方法是：1)对所有采集点进行地层学排序；2)对每个采集点进行生物地层学测定；3)与项目的生物地层学家解决年龄问题；4)使用最新的年龄信息为采集点确定生物年代学年龄。项目活动的主要成果是增强科研知识，培养学生和博士后科学家。新的数据库将使与大规模进化和生态过程有关的一些关键问题能够由世界各地的科学家在相对较小的范围内进行严格的测试。一名FIU的研究生将学习数据管理和项目组织。FIU是位于迈阿密的佛罗里达州立大学，也是联邦政府认可的少数族裔机构。

LEGACY DATABASE OF THE PANAMA PALEONTOLOGY PROJECTLaurel S. Collins and Anthony G. CoatesEAR-0746014, Florida International University ABSTRACTIf scientists are to gain a better understanding of the influence of environmental change on the highly diverse but poorly understood faunas of the tropics, they need more detailed, chronologically arranged information. This project constructs a relational database of information on tropical fossils collected by the Panama Paleontology Project (PPP), makes it available via the internet, and links it to a system that will automatically update the ages to the newest standard geologic time scale, which is continually refined with new data. The PPP's fossil collections of mostly foraminifera, mollusks, fish, corals, ostracodes and bryozoans from Central and South America are housed in major world museums. The ages of the fossils are unusually well resolved, which makes them invaluable for fine-scaled research on tropical evolution, geology, biogeography and environmental change. At present, more than 40 scientists from 7 countries have produced over 180 scientific publications based on these collections; however, for continued research, the current information needs to be supplemented and ages need to be standardized to a single time scale.The PPP Database will have a structure based on a data model of the relationships of the data categories, a web interface for users, and links to the TimeScale-Creator program of the International Commission on Stratigraphy that enables future updates to the newest geologic age information. The existing collections information currently available at www.fiu.edu/~collinsl/pppdatabase.html will also be updated to include newer collections from Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Ecuador (~ 825 sites and ~2000 records). The main activities of the project are to: add new records and information to the database, provide updated ages for all faunal samples, implement the data model as a relational database, make the entire database available on the web, and make future updates to the newest age information automatic. The additional data will be extracted from documents such as field notebooks, publications and biostratigraphers' reports. The general methods employed for assigning ages are: 1) ordering all collection sites stratigraphically, 2) making biostratigraphic determinations for each site, 3) resolving age problems with the project's biostratigraphers, and 4) assigning biochronologic ages to the sites using the latest age information. The main results of the project's activities are to enhance knowledge for scientific research and the education of students and postdoctoral scientists. The new database will enable a number of key questions related to large-scale evolutionary and ecological processes to be tested rigorously and at a relatively fine scale by scientists around the world. A graduate student at FIU, Florida's state university in Miami and a federally recognized minority institution, will learn data management and project organization.