CSBR: Curating the Early Anthropocene Record of circum-Caribbean Animal Biodiversity in the Florida Museum of Natural History

佛罗里达大学获得了一项奖励，该奖励将使佛罗里达自然历史博物馆环境考古项目（FLMNH-EAP）能够部分使用3D数字化和遗传方法来改善其加勒比海地区动物考古收藏的管理。这些藏品包括来自美国东南部、中美洲、加勒比海和南美洲北部考古遗址的动物遗骸，代表了14000年的人类与环境的相互作用，并记录了早期的“人类世”，即人类对我们世界的影响占主导地位的时期。FLMNH-EAP收藏的核心是伊丽莎白·温的遗产收藏，包括800多个考古遗址组合，代表了300多万已确定的动物标本。考古遗址的动物遗骸是早期人类世生物多样性数据的重要储存库，记录了远在史前时代的工业化前人类与环境的相互作用。这些遗产收藏品包括记录早期人类对现已灭绝的僧海豹（Neomonachus）、旅鸽（Ectopistes migratorius）和大海雀（Pinguinus impennis）的利用，以及美洲内部（如豚鼠、Cavia porcellus）和第一批欧洲人到达时（如海地En Bas Saline的老鼠和猫，可能是哥伦布的第一个登陆点）的早期动物迁移和管理的标本。同样重要的是，与这些人类世生物多样性记录有关的人类活动的文化数据提供了关于人类对环境的看法以及特别是在环境变化条件下与环境资源相互作用的动机的信息。FLMNH-EAP将加强，数字化，并使其考古动物遗骸及其相关数据的收藏可访问，重点是遗产翼收集。该项目将保护和提供已确定的人类世动物标本及其数据记录。这些收集的数据弥补了古生物学和新学生物多样性记录之间的差距，为历史记录保存之前的时期提供了基线，并详细描述了人类对生物多样性影响的复杂历史。项目团队将通过iDigBio-GBIF生物多样性网络验证、数字化并发布约3.5万份目录的子集，其中包括30多万份标本。对于选定的标本，古代DNA和时间数据将提供人类影响下的加勒比海周围早期人类世动物生物多样性的记录。除了标本数据外，新创建的骨骼标本的图像和3D模型将通过iDigBio门户网站和MorphoSource在线共享。该项目还将通过《自然笔记》吸引公民科学家，并将为中学科学教师提供培训。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to the University of Florida that will enable The Florida Museum of Natural History Environmental Archaeology Program (FLMNH-EAP) to improve curation of their circum-Caribbean zooarchaeological collections, in part using 3D digitization and genetic methods. These collections include animal remains from archaeological sites across the Southeastern US, Central America, Caribbean, and northern part of South America that represent 14,000 years of human-environment interactions and document the early "anthropocene period," the period dominated by human impact on our world. Central to the FLMNH-EAP collections are the legacy Elizabeth Wing Collections, including more than 800 archaeological site assemblages, representing over three million identified animal specimens. Animal remains from archaeological sites are an essential repository of early anthropocene biodiversity data, recording pre-industrial human-environmental interaction reaching far back into our prehistory. These legacy collections include specimens documenting early human exploitation of now extinct monk seal (Neomonachus), passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) and great auk (Pinguinus impennis), as well as early animal translocation and management both within the Americas (e.g., guinea pigs, Cavia porcellus), and with first European arrival (e.g., rats and cats at En Bas Saline, Haiti, possibly Columbus's first landing site). Equally important, cultural data about human actions linked to these anthropocene biodiversity records inform on human perceptions of the environment and motivations in interacting with environmental resources particularly under conditions of environmental change.The FLMNH-EAP will enhance, digitize, and make accessible their collections of archaeological animal remains and their associated data with a focus on the legacy Wing collection. This project will protect and make available identified anthropocene animal specimens and their data records. Data from these collections bridge a gap between the records of paleontological and neontological biodiversity, providing baselines for the period before historical record-keeping and detailing the complex history of human impact on biodiversity over time. The project team will verify, digitize, and publish through the iDigBio-GBIF biodiversity network a subset of ca. 35,000 catalog comprising more than 300,000 specimens. For select specimens, ancient DNA and chronometric data will provide a record of circum-Caribbean early anthropocene animal biodiversity under human influence. In addition to specimen data, images and 3D models of newly created skeletal specimens will be shared online via the iDigBio web portal and MorphoSource. The project will also engage citizen scientists via Notes from Nature, and will provide training for middle-school science teachers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.