Digitization PEN: Digitizing the Fossil Insects of LA: Critical Additions to the Fossil Insect Collaborative

该项目的主要目标是对来自美国、德国和加拿大的五种昆虫化石进行数字化。这些努力将使近2.7万份新的标本记录在网上数字化。总的来说，这些数据将通过填补现有数据集的空白来补充先前授予的化石昆虫合作（FIC）数字化（FIC） TCN，并使感兴趣的公众和研究团体更容易看到这些难以访问的藏品。这些信息将有助于当前的研究，旨在更好地了解过去、现在和未来环境中全球最多样化的动物群体。该项目的成果将通过博物馆活动、K-12课堂课程、与当地业余古生物学家的持续合作，以及国际古生物学会开发的其他教育资源（包括iDigPaleo）向公众传播。通过该奖项进行数字化的昆虫化石收藏包括来自德国渐新世Rott组（“Statz Collection”）的压缩化石，来自加利福尼亚中新世Barstow组的硅化昆虫，来自加利福尼亚Rancho La Brea和McKittrick更新世沉积物的沥青保存昆虫，以及不列颠哥伦比亚省Lynn Creek的褐煤相关昆虫。值得注意的是，这些藏品大多具有历史意义，其中包括1819个模式标本，这些标本几十年来一直无法得到国际研究界的分类重新评估。此外，Rott区系是了解全球气候变化（FIC-TCN的主要研究主题）中化石昆虫多样性趋势的重要校准点，而Barstow区系在地理上是独特的，因为它包括三维硅化的昆虫体化石。数字化将包括对10,906个标本进行编目，对6,207个标本进行选择性成像，并在该数据汇总中提供来自拉布雷亚沥青坑和博物馆的另外15,684个标本记录，所有这些记录都将通过推进生物多样性收藏数字化的国家资源（http://www.idigbio.com）在线提供。

The primary goal of this project is to digitize five fossil insect collections from the United States, Germany, and Canada. These efforts will make nearly 27,000 new specimen records digitally available online. Collectively, these data will complement the previously awarded Fossil Insect Collaborative (FIC) Digitization (FIC) TCN by filling gaps in the existing dataset, and make these otherwise difficult to access collections significantly more visible to the interested public and research community. This information will facilitate current research aimed at better understanding the globally most diverse group of animals in the context of past, present, and future environments. Results of this project will be communicated to the public through museum events and K-12 classroom programming, ongoing partnership with local avocational paleontologists, and other educational resources developed by the FIC-TCN, including iDigPaleo.The fossil insect collections to be digitized through this award include compression fossils from the Oligocene Rott Formation ("Statz Collection") of Germany, silicified insects from the Miocene Barstow Formation of California, asphalt-preserved insects from the Pleistocene deposits of Rancho La Brea and McKittrick in California, and lignite-associated insects of Lynn Creek, British Columbia. Notably, these collections are largely historic in nature and include 1,819 type specimens that have been inaccessible for taxonomic re-evaluation by the international research community for decades. Further, the Rott fauna represents an important calibration point in understanding fossil insect diversity trends with respect to global climate transitions (the primary research theme of the FIC-TCN), and the Barstow fauna is taphonomically distinct, as it includes three-dimensionally silicified insect body fossils. Digitization will involve cataloging 10,906 specimens and selectively imaging 6,207 specimens, as well as making available an additional 15,684 specimen records from the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in this data aggregation, all of which will be made available online via the national resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (http://www.idigbio.com).