ThePaleobiology Database(PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification offossilanimals, plants, and microorganisms.
History
editThe Paleobiology Database originated in theNCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Paleofaunal Database initiative, which operated from August 1998 through August 2000. From 2000 to 2015, PBDB received funding from theNational Science Foundation.PBDB also received support form theAustralian Research Council.From 2000 to 2010 it was housed at theNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis,[1]a cross-disciplinary research center within theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.It is currently housed atUniversity of Wisconsin-Madisonand overseen by an international committee of major data contributors.
The Paleobiology Database works closely with theNeotoma Paleoecology Database,which has a similar intellectual history, but has focused on the Quaternary (with an emphasis on the late Pleistocene and Holocene) at timescales of decades to millennia. Together, Neotoma and the Paleobiology Database have helped launch theEarthLife Consortium,a non-profit umbrella organization to support the easy and free sharing of paleoecological and paleobiological data.
Researchers
editPartial list of contributing researchers:[2]
- Martin Aberhan,Museum für Naturkunde
- John Alroy,Macquarie University
- Chris Beard,Carnegie Museum of Natural History
- Kay Behrensmeyer,Smithsonian Institution
- David Bottjer,University of Southern California
- Richard Butler,Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie
- Matt Carrano,Smithsonian Institution
- Fabrizio Cecca,Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University
- Matthew Clapham,University of California, Santa Cruz
- Bill DiMichele,Smithsonian Institution
- Michael Foote,University of Chicago
- Austin Hendy,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- Steve Holland,University of Georgia
- Wolfgang Kiessling,Museum für Naturkunde
- Charles R. Marshall,University of California, Berkeley
- Alistair McGowan,University of Glasgow
- Arnie Miller,University of Cincinnati
- Johannes Müller,Museum für Naturkunde
- Mark Patzkowsky,Penn State
- Hermann Pfefferkorn,University of Pennsylvania
- Ashwini Srivastava,Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
- Alan Turner,Liverpool John Moores University
- Mark D. Uhen,George Mason University
- Loïc Vilier,Université de Provence
- Pete Wagner,Smithsonian Institution
- Xiaoming Wang,Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- Robin Whatley,Smithsonian Institution
- Scott Wing,Smithsonian Institution
Criticism
editDonald Protherohas asserted that for severalCenozoicmammalfamilies,range data in the PBDB are exaggerated due to uncritical inclusion of mistaken data.[3]
References
edit- ^"National Center for Ecological Analysis, an overview".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-19.Retrieved2014-05-20.
- ^"Reference for contributing researchers".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-07.Retrieved2014-05-20.
- ^Prothero, D. (2015).Garbage in, garbage out: The effect of immature taxonomy on database compilations of North American fossil mammals.New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin,68, 257–264.
External links
edit- "The Paleobiology Database".Retrieved2010-04-08.
- Downloadable user guide