DEVELOPMENT OF AN ONLINE DATABASE FOR CRETACEOUS MARINE TAXA FROM THE K/PG HORNERSTOWN FORMATION OF NEW JERSEY

Over the past century more than one hundred species have been identified from the K/Pg Hornerstown Formation at the Inversand fossil site in Mantua Township, New Jersey. To advance future research and deepen public engagement, we saw a need for an accessible, comprehensive database of known taxa and their known phylogenetic and ecological relationships. Searchable, online records of Hornerstown taxa would accelerate current research, create pathways for future research, and engage the public by providing raw data for citizen science projects.

A website is in development to manage the database online and to enhance access by researchers as well as the general public. Each taxon profile will be searchable and indexed by phylogenetic relationships and ecological associations, with user contributions encouraged and links provided, when available, to complementary information in external online sources (for instance, the Paleobiology Database). As this system develops, we expect it to help clarify paleoecological relationships within this terminal Cretaceous biome, as well as to foster enthusiasm for paleontology among citizen scientists from the southern New Jersey area and beyond.