Name of Database: FAUNMAP
- URL for home page:
- http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/faunmap/ or http://www.museum.state.il.us/research/faunmap/
- URL for basic information page (the one that has this infomation listed):
- FAUNMAP is an archival database that was originally compiled to study the changes in mammalian community composition over the past 40,000 years (now extended to up to 5 million years).
- FAUNMAP records locality information, taxonomic information, catalog numbers, NISP and/or MNI (when possible), geologic information, geochronologic information, and taphonomic information for fossil mammal specimens that range in age from about 5 million years old (Early Pliocene) through about 500 years old (Holocene). The geographic scope covers the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
- Intended audience:
- The paleontological research community.
- The database was originally compiled on IBM-compatible computers in Paradox, but later transferred to Microsoft Access. The database tables were then slightly restructured to optimize the database for a web interface. This involved joining several of the tables into one table and adding fields used as reference points among tables for processing web queries. The tables that are left after the joining are: Localityf, Faunalf, Commentf, and Absolutef. Once the tables were restructured, the data were exported into tab-delimited text files which were then uploaded into mySQL tables that mirror the structure of the revised tables. The resulting mySQL database is housed on a Berkeley Natural History Museum (BNHM) server. As the revised tables were uploaded into mySQL, several error-checking scripts were run to help ensure that the data did not contain errors.
- Data model (basic description of what fields are included and how fields are related)
- Terminology conventions for data entry
- Output query system:
- Web based queries in mySQL and map interfaces using Berkeley Natural History Museums online maps.
- Extent of user support available:
- On-line tips and critical information.
- How long has the database existed?
- Data entry began in 1990 and concluded in 2003. As of 2003, this is an archival database, meaning that the information is a static representation of the data entered before June of 2003, with taxonomy and age assignments appropriately converted to standards existing on that date. For use in research applications, the complete or partial database can be downloaded. Users should update the archival database as appropriate for their purposes, and cite the FAUNMAP project in publications. Currently there are no plans to add to the database after completion of the funding period in 2003.
- Where does it reside?
- The merged version of FAUNMAP I and II resides on the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) website. The FAUNMAP I data also resides on the Illinois State Museum website and within the Neotoma database.
- What institutional and/or financial support is associated with its maintenance?
- Development of the database was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation.
- What are the long-term maintenance plans?
- Long-term posting of the data is on the UCMP website and the Neotoma database.
- Who is the person to contact about the database?
- Russell Graham