INTERACTIVE MAP PORTAL OF SOME IMPORTANT FOSSIL LOCALITIES ALONG THE SOUTHERN TETHYAN MARGIN OF THE SEPHARDIC (TRIASSIC) AND ETHIOPIAN (JURASSIC) FAUNAL PROVINCES

The use of a “map portal” allows researchers to publish their maps and the data incorporated therein in a simple way that will reach a broad audience. Colleagues, as well as other workers worldwide, can connect to the portal through the internet and display the maps on desktop computers. The process is dynamic; any change made in the source map is immediately displayed on the user’s desktop. In this report we illustrate a map of Triassic and Jurassic brachiopod collecting localities on the southern Tethyan margin in the Middle East. The locations are shown as red points that overlie a base map. By clicking on a point, a small box is opened that contains the textual data of the specimens collected at that locality: species names, the name of the author or collector, GIS data and one or more related field photos (if available). Brachiopod-bearing strata include some classic sites such as Douvillé’s (1916) and Cossmann’s (1925) localities in northern Sinai, Egypt, Muir-Wood’s (1925) report on the fauna from Wadi Zarqa, Jordan, and Cooper’s (1989) study of brachiopods from the Tuwaiq Mountains, Saudi Arabia. More modern studies are also noted such as Feldman’s brachiopod studies from Gebel El-Maghara and Gebel El-Minshera, northern Sinai and from Hamakhtesh Hagadol and Makhtesh Ramon in southern Israel.