Development of an integrated paleontological database and Web site of Florissant collections, taxonomy, and publications

Meyer, Herbert W.; Wasson, Matthew S.; Frakes, Brent

doi:10.1130/2008.2435(11)

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Among its many distinctions, the Florissant biota was one of the first large fossil assemblages of any kind to be photographed, cataloged comprehensively, and made openly available in an internet database ( Meyer et al 2008 ). This massive effort by H. Meyer and associates, beginning in the 1990s, has two components as described below.…”

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first of two components of the Florissant image set (Table 1 ) comes from the Meyer et al (2008) project to capture high-resolution images of all type, published, and related Florissant collections, representing 5,663 specimens of ca. 1800 fossil plant and animal species as described in >300 scientific papers from a total Florissant collection of ca.…”

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of this material had never been illustrated or was illustrated poorly by modern standards. The fossils are held in about 15 museums around the world as listed by Meyer et al (2008) ; the largest three Florissant type and published collections are at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology (almost entirely insects and spiders), and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. The original photographs on Kodachrome slides are archived at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument ( FLFO ), and they were scanned twice about 12–15 years apart to take advantage of improving technology, the second time at high resolution.…”

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondary inventory numbers are those assigned by the creators of collections that were assembled from several primary collections. Examples are the cleared and x-rayed leaf samples physically gathered from primary herbarium sheets and the Meyer et al (2008) Florissant photographic collection of specimens housed at numerous primary repositories. The Meyer et al secondary (photograph) numbers have an informal “CU” prefix added here to the filenames, merely to distinguish them easily from the FLFO set in searches and not to indicate primary repository.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

Wilf¹,

Wing²,

Meyer³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leaves are the most abundant and visible plant organ, both in the modern world and the fossil record. Identifying foliage to the correct plant family based on leaf architecture is a fundamental botanical skill that is also critical for isolated fossil leaves, which often, especially in the Cenozoic, represent extinct genera and species from extant families. Resources focused on leaf identification are remarkably scarce; however, the situation has improved due to the recent proliferation of digitized herbarium material, live-plant identification applications, and online collections of cleared and fossil leaf images. Nevertheless, the need remains for a specialized image dataset for comparative leaf architecture. We address this gap by assembling an open-access database of 30,252 images of vouchered leaf specimens vetted to family level, primarily of angiosperms, including 26,176 images of cleared and x-rayed leaves representing 354 families and 4,076 of fossil leaves from 48 families. The images maintain original resolution, have user-friendly filenames, and are vetted using APG and modern paleobotanical standards. The cleared and x-rayed leaves include the Jack A. Wolfe and Leo J. Hickey contributions to the National Cleared Leaf Collection and a collection of high-resolution scanned x-ray negatives, housed in the Division of Paleobotany, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.; and the Daniel I. Axelrod Cleared Leaf Collection, housed at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley. The fossil images include a sampling of Late Cretaceous to Eocene paleobotanical sites from the Western Hemisphere held at numerous institutions, especially from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (late Eocene, Colorado), as well as several other localities from the Late Cretaceous to Eocene of the Western USA and the early Paleogene of Colombia and southern Argentina. The dataset facilitates new research and education opportunities in paleobotany, comparative leaf architecture, systematics, and machine learning.

show abstract

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fossil Leavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

Wilf¹,

Wing²,

Meyer³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These collections include type specimens published by Carpenter, Cockerell, Scudder, and others. The total number of plant and invertebrate fossils in these collections has been estimated at 10,000 specimens (Meyer et al, 2008). The author examined 510 specimens, the top two drawers (~30%) of the uncataloged Cockerell insect collection, in 2017.…”

Section: Smithsonian National Museum Of Natural History (Usnm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Digitization reveals and remediates challenges to research on dispersed museum collections from Florissant fossil beds, Colorado

Antell¹

2018

Museums at the Forefront of the History and Philosophy of Geology: History Made, History in the Making

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Florissant fossil beds ranks among the best documented Cenozoic fossil deposits in the world in number of scientific publications and named species. The history of geoscience research on the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation spans nearly one and a half centuries. New excavations and transfers of historic collections have spread Florissant fossils to nearly 30 natural history museums during that period. The history of acquisition, conservation, and taxonomic study of each museum’s collection is unique, so Florissant collections provide examples of how taxonomic diversity, physical conservation, and public exhibition of collections vary with provenance. Dispersal of fossils among museums, including separation of type specimen parts and counterparts, has led to a variety of challenges for research on Florissant fossils. First, an exploratory, quantitative analysis of taxonomic diversity in four collections of fossil insects from Florissant uncovers a pattern of identification bias. Some taxonomists preferentially identify common taxa or consistently misidentify rare taxa, for instance. In light of this result, it is recommended that researchers vet any set of identifications made by multiple researchers or, ideally, identify specimens anew. Second, observations of Florissant specimens at different museums show that a large number of fossils have been lost, damaged, or destroyed due to actions such as travel on loan, display in exhibits, or application of non-archival conservation techniques. Through the digitization process, including cataloging and imaging specimens, curatorial staffs have discovered the extent of uncatalogued or missing material. Digitization has mitigated some of the challenges associated with dispersion of specimens. Collaborative projects across museums have led to rediscovery of lost specimens or discovery for the first time of parts and counterparts that correspond to the same fossil but are housed at different institutions. Online databases that serve specimen images allow researchers to assign new taxonomic determinations, controlling for bias from earlier researchers, or to examine fossils remotely from photographs, reducing the need to handle and ship fragile material for loans. Moreover, providing public access to museum specimen records through collaborative digitization projects expands the opportunities to exhibit and develop specimen-based educational curricula.

show abstract

Managing Conservation, Research, and Interpretation of Geoheritage Assets at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado, USA

Meyer¹

2018

Geoheritage

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Development of an integrated paleontological database and Web site of Florissant collections, taxonomy, and publications

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

Digitization reveals and remediates challenges to research on dispersed museum collections from Florissant fossil beds, Colorado

Managing Conservation, Research, and Interpretation of Geoheritage Assets at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado, USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Development of an integrated paleontological database and Web site of Florissant collections, taxonomy, and publications

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

﻿An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

﻿An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

Digitization reveals and remediates challenges to research on dispersed museum collections from Florissant fossil beds, Colorado

Managing Conservation, Research, and Interpretation of Geoheritage Assets at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado, USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning

An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning