Paleobiology Database Explained

The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms.

History

The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Paleofaunal Database initiative, which operated from August 1998 through August 2000. From 2000 to 2015, PBDB received funding from the National Science Foundation. PBDB also received support form the Australian Research Council. From 2000 to 2010 it was housed at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis,^[1] a cross-disciplinary research center within the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is currently housed at University of Wisconsin-Madison and overseen by an international committee of major data contributors.

The Paleobiology Database works closely with the Neotoma 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 the EarthLife Consortium, a non-profit umbrella organization to support the easy and free sharing of paleoecological and paleobiological data.

How to Learn to Use the PBDB?

Users can learn to use the Paleobiology Database through a series of tutorial videos available on its YouTube channel, which demonstrate how to enter various types of data. Additionally, a comprehensive User Guide is available, covering nearly all aspects of database use with detailed instructions and resources.

^[2]

Researchers

Partial list of contributing researchers:^[3]

• 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, French: [[Université de Provence]]|italic=no
• Pete Wagner, Smithsonian Institution
• Xiaoming Wang, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
• Robin Whatley, Smithsonian Institution
• Scott Wing, Smithsonian Institution

Institutions

Partial list of contributing institutions:^[4]

• All-Russian Geological Research Institute
• Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie
• Benedictine University
• Binghamton University
• Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• Case Western Reserve University
• Colby College
• College of William and Mary
• Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Field Museum of Natural History
• George Mason University
• Harvard University
• Hungarian Natural History Museum
• Museum für Naturkunde
• National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
• Ohio State University
• Penn State
• Smithsonian Institution
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
• French: [[Université de Provence]]|italic=no
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• University of Chicago
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Southern California
• University of Texas
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Würzburg
• Yale University

Criticism

Donald Prothero has shown that for several Cenozoic mammal families, range data in the PBDB are exaggerated due to uncritical inclusion of mistaken data.^[5]

See also

• Fossilworks

External links

• Web site: The Paleobiology Database . 2010-04-08.

Notes and References

1. Web site: National Center for Ecological Analysis, an overview . 2014-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160319194536/https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/overview . 2016-03-19 . dead .
2. M. D. Uhen, B. Allen, N. Behboudi, M. E. Clapham, E. Dunne, A. Hendy, P. A. Holroyd, M. Hopkins, P. Mannion, P. Novack-Gottshall, C. Pimiento, P. Wagner, Paleobiology Database user guide version 1.0. PaleoBios 40, 531 (2023).
3. Web site: Reference for contributing researchers . 2014-05-20 . 2016-03-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160307142106/https://paleobiodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayAuthorizers . dead .
4. Web site: Reference for contributing institutions . 2014-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306194651/https://paleobiodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayInstitutions . 2016-03-06 . dead .
5. 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.