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

该项目的主要目标是收集来自美国、德国和加拿大的五种昆虫化石。这些努力将使近27，000个新的标本记录以数字方式在线提供。总的来说，这些数据将通过填补现有数据集的空白来补充之前获得的化石昆虫协作（FIC）数字化（FIC）TCN，并使这些原本难以访问的藏品对感兴趣的公众和研究界来说更加明显。这些信息将促进当前的研究，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和K-12课堂计划、与当地古生物学家的持续合作以及FIC-TCN开发的其他教育资源（包括iDigPaleo）向公众传达。通过该奖项进行数字化的昆虫化石收藏品包括渐新世罗特地层的压缩化石（“Statz Collection”），加利福尼亚中新世巴斯托组的硅化昆虫，加州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林恩Creek的褐煤相关昆虫。值得注意的是，这些收藏品在很大程度上是历史性的，包括1,819个模式标本，这些标本几十年来一直无法被国际研究界进行分类学重新评估。此外，罗特动物群代表了一个重要的校准点，在了解化石昆虫多样性的趋势与全球气候转变（FIC-TCN的主要研究主题），和巴斯托动物群是埋藏学上的独特，因为它包括三维硅化昆虫体化石。数字化将涉及对10 906个标本进行编目，对6 207个标本进行选择性成像，并在数据汇总中提供拉布雷亚焦油坑和博物馆的另外15 684个标本记录，所有这些都将通过促进生物多样性收藏数字化的国家资源（http：//www.example.com）在线提供。www.idigbio.com

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).