Database gives unprecedented access to fossil records
This week a ground-breaking new resource for scientists went live. More than twenty paleontologists, molecular biologists, and computer programmers from five different countries designed and contributed to a new open-source database that stores carefully reviewed fossil data and makes it accessible worldwide.
The Fossil Calibration Database webpage was launched on Tuesday February 24th, and a series of five peer-reviewed papers and an editorial on the topic will appear in the scientific journal Palaeontologia Electronica.
The papers will describe the project, which is the result of years of work from a worldwide team led by Dr. Daniel Ksepka, Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, and Dr. James Parham, Curator at the John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center in Orange County, California.
[STORY: Understanding the origins of the human eye]
The database has been funded through the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent).Dr. Ksepka is the author of one of the papers and co-author of the editorial.
Links to the past
The team behind the database hopes that it will answer a wide range of questions about evolutionary timescales in hopes of pinpointing when certain organisms first evolved.
When someone asks, “If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?”, just point them towards this database. Hopefully we can finally put that argument to rest.
[STORY: Evolution doesn't always follow Darwin's theories]
The Fossil Calibration Database provides vetted fossil calibration points that can be used for divergence dating by molecular systematists. In order to be included in the database, a calibration must pass peer review and meet best practices for phylogenetic and stratigraphic justification.
All data in the database is provided under a Creative Commons CC0 waiver, meaning that the data is free of any restrictions on use. Copyright does not apply to scientific facts, so the data is not eligible for copyright protection.
Dust off those old bones
“Fossils provide the critical age data we need to unlock the timing of major evolutionary events,” says Dr. Ksepka. “This new resource will provide the crucial fossil data needed to calibrate ‘molecular clocks’ which can reveal the ages of plant and animal groups that lack good fossil records. When did groups like songbirds, flowering plants, or sea turtles evolve? What natural events were occurring that may have had an impact? Precisely tuning the molecular clock with fossils is the best way we have to tell evolutionary time.”
[STORY: Genetic study shows secrets of bird evolution]
“This exciting field of study, known as ‘divergence dating,’ is important for understanding the origin and evolution of biodiversity, but has been hindered by the improper use of data from the fossil record,” says Dr. Parham. “The Fossil Calibration Database addresses this issue by providing molecular biologists with paleontologist-approved data for organisms across the Tree of Life.”
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