The Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America ("NMITA") database: Accounting for biodiversity in paleontology

The reliability of any survey of biodiversity through geologic time depends on the rigor and consistency by which taxa are recognized and samples are identified. The main goal of the Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America ( 'NMITA') project is to create an online biotic database (http://nnmita.geol ogy.uiowa.edu) containing images and synoptic taxonomic information that ar e essential to collecting and disseminating high-quality taxic data. The da tabase consists of an inventory of taxa collected as part of several large multi-taxa fossil sampling programs designed to assess marine biodiversity in tropical America over the past 25 m.y. In the first phase of the project , data for similar to1,300 taxa and similar to3,800 images are currently be ing entered into a relational database management system on an IBM RS6000 a t the University of Iowa. Eleven taxonomic groups are represented: bivalves , gastropods (muricids, marginellids, strombinids), bryozoans (cheilostome, cyclostome), corals (azooxanthellate, zooxanthellate), benthic foraminifer s, ostracodes, fish. The lowest taxonomic rank is species (genera/subgenera in mollusks) and the highest is family. Data that are collected and displa yed on taxon pages include: (I) taxonomic authorship, synonyms, type specim ens, and diagnostic morphologic characters; (2) images of representative sp ecimens and associated museum catalog and measurement data; (3) distributio nal information including geologic ages, stratigraphic units, and spatial l ocations; and (4) higher level classification (genera and families) and bib liographic information. Illustrated glossaries of morphologic terms, charac ter matrices, and identification tools are being developed for corals and m ollusks. Interactive geographic maps and stratigraphic columns have been de signed to provide information about taxa collected at different locations.