Abstract
A geographical information system (GIS) database was compiled of Permo-Triassic tetrapod fossils from the Karoo Supergoup in South African museum collections. This database is the first of its kind and has great time applicability for understanding tetrapod biodiversity change though time more than 200 million years ago. Because the museum catalogues all differed in recorded information and were not compliant with field capture requirements, this information had to be standardised to a format that could be utilised for archival and research application. Our paper focuses on the processes involved in building the GIS project, capturing metadata on fossil collections and formulating future best practices. The result is a multi-layered GIS database of the tetrapod fossil record of the Beaufort Group of South Africa for use as an accurate research tool in palaeo- and geoscience research with applications for ecology, ecosystems, stratigraphy and basin development.
Highlights
The fossil record of the Karoo Supergroup, which comprises a largely unbroken temporal record of tetrapod evolution from the Middle Permian to the Middle Jurassic,[1,2] provides a unique opportunity to set up a geographical information system (GIS) database of fossil occurrences which can be utilised to answer questions relating to ecological and biodiversity change through time
With the cooperation of seven South African museums and institutes (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria; Ditsong Museum, Pretoria; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; National Museum, Bloemfontein; Albany Museum, Grahamstown; Rubidge Collection, Wellwood, Graaff-Reinet; Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town) that curate collections of Karoo tetrapod fossils, a GIS incorporating the South African databases of fossil records collected from the Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup has been compiled
This paper focuses on the processes involved in establishing a GIS for tetrapod fossils from the Beaufort Group
Summary
The fossil record of the Karoo Supergroup, which comprises a largely unbroken temporal record of tetrapod evolution from the Middle Permian to the Middle Jurassic,[1,2] provides a unique opportunity to set up a GIS database of fossil occurrences which can be utilised to answer questions relating to ecological and biodiversity change through time. We geocoded palaeontological data for use in a geographical information system (GIS) for palaeoscience research to explore issues relating to the biodiversity of Permian and Triassic tetrapod faunas This was the first time a GIS had been applied to the fossil records of the Karoo Supergroup. The Darwin Core metadata standard[7], a uniform standard designed to expedite the exchange of informa tion about the geographic occurrence of species and specimen records in collections, with extensions for palaeontology These information systems, driven by distributed data retrieval, data capture and person-facilitated geospatial referencing, have enabled the investigation of novel research questions around ecological reconstruction, extinct biodiversity trends and predictive modelling. It highlights the key challenges encountered during database establishment, as well as describing its main applications and future best practices for use as an accurate research tool in palaeontological research.
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