An award has been made to the University of Missouri-Columbia under the direction of Dr. Ken MacLeod to construct a database for the conodont collection at the university. The collection of 8,500 specimens represents an important paleontological resource that has been assembled over the past 70 years. These enigmatic fossil specimens are used in studies of past climates and for detailed studies dating the fossil record. Many of the specimens in this collection are types, that is, they are associated with the names given to species by researchers and are critical in taxonomic studies. The project will involve the creation of a database that will make the data associated with the specimens available online to a wide audience. Work on the database will take place at the University of Missouri-Columbia, through the work of a retired expert on the group. After completion of the database the collection will be transferred to the University of Iowa paleontology Repository at the University of Iowa in mid-2010. The project will include training in curation techniques and conodont taxonomy of several undergraduates under the supervision of a graduate student and senior investigators.
