A dataset of tetrapod occurrences ranging from the Carboniferous through to the Early Triassic, from the Palaeobiology Database. Dataset includes a range of variables relevant to common palaeobiological analyses, relating to identification, geography, environmental context, traits and more. Additional information can be found here. The downloaded data is unaltered, with the exception of removing some superfluous variables, and can be used to demonstrate how the functions in the palaeoverse package might be applied.
Format
A data frame with 5270 rows and 32 variables:
- occurrence_no
Reference number given to the particular occurrence in the Paleobiology Database
- collection_no
Reference number given to the Paleobiology Database collection (locality) that the occurrence belongs to
- identified_name
Taxon name as it appears in the original publication, which may include expressions of uncertainty (e.g. "cf.", "aff.", "?") or novelty (e.g. "n. gen.", "n. sp.")
- identified_rank
The taxonomic rank, or resolution, of the identified name
- accepted_name
Taxon name once the identified name has passed through the Paleobiology Database's internal taxonomy, which collapses synonyms, amends binomials which have been altered (e.g. species moving to another genus) and updates taxa which are no longer valid (e.g. nomina dubia)
- accepted_rank
The taxonomic rank, or resolution, of the accepted name
- early_interval
The oldest (or only) time interval within which the occurrence is thought to have been deposited
- late_interval
The youngest time interval within which the occurrence is thought to have been deposited
- max_ma, min_ma
The age range given to the occurrence
- phylum, class, order, family, genus
The taxa (of decreasing taxonomic level) which the occurrence is identified as belonging to
- abund_value, abund_unit
The number (and units) of fossils attributed to the occurrence
- lng, lat
The modern-day longitude and latitude of the fossil locality
- collection_name
The name of the Paleobiology Database collection which the occurrence belongs to, typically a spatio-temporally restricted locality
- cc
The country (code) where the fossils were discovered
- formation, stratgroup, member
The geological units from which the fossils were collected
- zone
The biozone which the occurrence is attributed to
- lithology1
The main lithology of the beds in the section where the fossils were collected
- environment
The inferred environmental conditions in the place of deposition
- pres_mode
The mode of preservation of the fossils found in the collection (not necessarily of that specific occurrence), which will include information on whether they are body or trace fossils
- taxon_environment
The environment within which the taxon is thought to have lived, collated within the Paleobiology Database
- motility, life_habit, diet
Various types of trait data for the taxon, collated within the Paleobiology Database
Source
Compiled by Bethany Allen, current version downloaded on 14th July 2022. See item descriptions for details.
References
Uhen MD et al. (2023). Paleobiology Database User Guide Version 1.0.
PaleoBios, 40 (11). doi:10.5070/P9401160531
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