PALEONTOLOGY IN CYBERSPACE: MOVING MUSEUMS INTO DIGITAL AGE SPECIMEN COLLECTION

Natural history museum collections accrue over many years, often centuries. Data relating to those specimens are held in a variety of formats and varying levels of detail. With time links between field notes, locality images, and specimens often become broken. Digital records can help to mitigate some of this data loss if they are adequately indexed. The Texas Natural Science Center has digitized many records, and for the Non-vertebrate laboratory (NPL) this move includes a GIS to manage the extensive repository. Many specimens have been reconnected with relevant data and new projects aim to prevent initial loss of connection between field data and the specimen by digitally recording data and imagery. In the case of NPL this includes the extension of GIS technology into fieldwork to provide the basis for future geographic analysis of selected fauna or biozones.

Digitization proceeded on a broad front over the last eight years, covering catalogs, locality records, historic photographs, acetate peels, field note books, oral histories and the specimens themselves. The first completely digital field project was accomplished in 2006, targeting the 200 ft exposure of the Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation at Canyon Lake spillway gorge in central Texas. The objective was to collect a stratigraphic sample from this unusually well-exposed part of the section spanning the classic marker horizons of the “Corbula” bed and the Salenia texana zone. The section, exposed by a flood in 2002, is weathering and to capture the best data required rapid action. It was logged in analog detail during 2004 and our project built upon that data.

Techniques included a digital mapping tablet, with integrated GPS, preloaded with mapping software, relevant geological and topographical files, and custom data input forms. A stand alone GPS unit in synch with a digital camera enabled georeferenced imaging. The section was sampled throughout with bulk collected wherever possible. Each sampling site was located on the digital map and relevant observations added to the database. Specimens were curated into a research collection for the repository and educational specimens for display use on site, under development by Guadelupe-Blanco River Authority. The project was jointly funded by the Center and the Jackson School of Geosciences.