Of Protocols and Perissodactyls: Building on past experiences for smooth transitions to new projects

Abstract

During the Late Miocene, significant changes in plant and animal life marked the evolution and spread of grasslands across continents. Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History holds an extensive fossil vertebrate collection from the Minimum Quarry, a Kansas locality that has proved important for understanding these biotic shifts. Most fossils from this locality were collected ~35 years ago, with quarrying only resuming in the past few years. Despite the significance of this collection, only 1717 specimens had been curated with ~ 3600 additional fossils needing assessment, curation, and preservation. In 2022, the Sternberg Museum was awarded an Institute for Museum and Library Services grant to address the long-term preservation of this collection. The Minimum Quarry Project (MQP) builds on paleontology collection improvements initiatives that started in 2016 to institute a relational database and advance digitization and data-sharing efforts by the Stenberg Museum. Similarities with previous projects have allowed us to test, update, and build on past efforts to expedite progress towards project goals.