This proposal seeks support for two pilot studies to develop and test the prototype of PaleoBank, an electronic, relational data base for invertebrate paleontology. Plans for PaleoBank involve its eventually encompassing all invertebrate organisms with a fossil record or, for extant genera, with a reasonable likelihood of becoming a part of the fossil record. This effort will develop and test data-capture software that can be used by taxonomists to enter information into the data base. PaleoBank will not involve retrofitting outdated taxonomic information from the literature into an electronic format. Instead, it will be based on the latest information provided by specialists, who will contribute information through user-friendly, data-capture software written with the FoxPro data base management system. PaleoBank will focus on genera, but contributors will also be encouraged to enter information on species. They will be required to enter taxonomy, morphology, biostratigraphy, biogeography, and bibliography. In addition, they will be encouraged to enter a number of kinds of e cological and environmental information. PaleoBank will be distributed through such means as World-Wide Web and CD-ROM. Two groups of organisms have been selected for the pilot studies. The subfamily Muricinae, is perhaps the most thoroughly studied major group of snails. The other taxon is the order Labechiida of the class Stromatoporoidea, a group of extinct, calcareous, spongelike organisms. The research will be important in advancing knowledge in two ways. First, the number of taxonomic specialists with a synoptic view of the evolution and systematics of a large group of organisms is rapidly dwindling. Specialists die, retire, change fields, and narrow the scope of their investigations to cope with the explosion of knowledge. When it is developed, PaleoBank will provide a means of capturing the taxonomic knowledge of these specialists and of allowing a broad range of biologists, paleontologists, and nonspecialists to use that information in their studies. Second, although the principal purpose of the proposed research is to develop and test data-capture software, data bases on the Muricinae and Labechiida will be interesting in their own right. The muricine snails are important biostratigraphically and paleoenvironmentally, and a comprehensive data base will facilitate their use in solving geological problems. Moreover, they occupy a high position in the food web of reef ecosystems and can be use to assess the deterioration of those environments as a result of pollutional stress. One of the most active areas of research in paleontology is the study of mass extinction. The Labechiida, having survived a major mass-extinction event, can provide important information on the role of mass extinction in the history of life and the patterns of life s recovery from such decimating events.
