TY - JOUR
T1 - A comprehensive database of quality-rated fossil ages for Sahul’s Quaternary vertebrates
AU - Rodríguez-Rey, Marta
AU - Herrando-Pérez, Salvador
AU - Brook, Barry
AU - Saltré, Frédérik
AU - Alroy, John
AU - Beeton, Nicholas
AU - Bird, Michael
AU - Cooper, Alan
AU - Gillespie, Richard
AU - Jacobs, Zenobia
AU - Johnson, C
AU - Miller, Gifford
AU - Prideaux, Gavin
AU - Roberts, Richard
AU - Turney, Christopher
AU - Bradshaw, Corey
PY - 2016/7/19
Y1 - 2016/7/19
N2 - The study of palaeo-chronologies using fossil data provides evidence for past ecological and evolutionary processes, and is therefore useful for predicting patterns and impacts of future environmental change. However, the robustness of inferences made from fossil ages relies heavily on both the quantity and quality of available data. We compiled Quaternary non-human vertebrate fossil ages from Sahul published up to 2013. This, the FosSahul database, includes 9,302 fossil records from 363 deposits, for a total of 478 species within 215 genera, of which 27 are from extinct and extant megafaunal species (2,559 records). We also provide a rating of reliability of individual absolute age based on the dating protocols and association between the dated materials and the fossil remains. Our proposed rating system identified 2,422 records with high-quality ages (i.e., a reduction of 74%). There are many applications of the database, including disentangling the confounding influences of hypothetical extinction drivers, better spatial distribution estimates of species relative to palaeo-climates, and potentially identifying new areas for fossil discovery.
AB - The study of palaeo-chronologies using fossil data provides evidence for past ecological and evolutionary processes, and is therefore useful for predicting patterns and impacts of future environmental change. However, the robustness of inferences made from fossil ages relies heavily on both the quantity and quality of available data. We compiled Quaternary non-human vertebrate fossil ages from Sahul published up to 2013. This, the FosSahul database, includes 9,302 fossil records from 363 deposits, for a total of 478 species within 215 genera, of which 27 are from extinct and extant megafaunal species (2,559 records). We also provide a rating of reliability of individual absolute age based on the dating protocols and association between the dated materials and the fossil remains. Our proposed rating system identified 2,422 records with high-quality ages (i.e., a reduction of 74%). There are many applications of the database, including disentangling the confounding influences of hypothetical extinction drivers, better spatial distribution estimates of species relative to palaeo-climates, and potentially identifying new areas for fossil discovery.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84978902224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/sdata.2016.53
DO - 10.1038/sdata.2016.53
M3 - Article
SN - 2052-4463
VL - 3
SP - Art: 160053
JO - Scientific Data - Nature
JF - Scientific Data - Nature
M1 - 160053
ER -