GONIAT, A COMPUTER-RETRIEVAL SYSTEM FOR PALEOZOIC AMMONOIDS

GONIAT is designed as tool for investigations on the systematics of th e Paleozoic ammonoids, their paleogeographic distribution, and their b iostratigraphic range. This data base management system provides not o nly determinations based on morphological characteristics, but also in formation on occurrence, duration, literature, and phylogenetic relati onships of every taxon of family, genus, and species levels. GONIAT is a relational data base. It consists of six independent data bases con nected by three link information files: TAX for taxonomy, MORPHA and M ORPHB for all distinctive morphological characters in adult or early a nd middle growth stages, LIT for literature, LOC for localities, and B OUND for biostratigraphy. In order to provide relevant time planes tha t can be used on a worldwide scale, radiometric dates as well as biost ratigraphic names are used.