Paleontology Database Network Information
Name: Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ETE) Database
Home page URL: http://etedata.si.edu
This page's URL: http://etedata.si.edu/ETE_web_files/pdnetwork.html
Purpose: The ETE Database is a research database designed to allow broad-scale comparisons of terrestrial ecosystems and their plant and animal communities. By providing rapid access to a large array of standardized information, it facilitates detailed comparisons, on a locality-by-locality basis, of community structure, vegetation, and environments, and patterns of structural change in terrestrial ecosystems over geologic time. The database allows direct analyses of its contents and interactive access for browsing and formulating specific queries.
Scope: As of July 2001, the ETE Database consists of 1,533 continental (non-marine) localities (mostly fossil but including some recent faunas), 16,429 occurrence records (of taxa at localities) and approximately 8,600 taxa of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. The data currently emphasize the African late Cenozoic, which constitute 1,298 of the locality records.
Intended Audience: The ETE Database is designed for use by the global scientific community and can also be accessed by the public via the internet.
Platform/Software: The ETE Database is accessible on three platforms: (1) Ingres Relational Database/embedded SQL on a Hewlett-Packard 715/33 X-Windows platform, (2) ESRI's GIS software ArcExplorer 3.0 on a Dell PowerEdge dual-processor Windows NT server, and (3) Filemaker Pro 5.0 on a Dell PowerEdge dual-processor Windows NT server.
Data Model: The basic entity in the ETE Database is a fossil locality, a significant collection of fossil specimens from a particular geographic location. For each locality, besides name, age, and location, there are fields for sedimentological, taphonomic, and paleoecological data (including inferences about paleovegetation and paleoenvironment). There is a species list for each locality, and for each species a set of 25 - 30 morphological and ecological descriptors. These fields are described in detail in the ETE Database Manual which can be accessed through the ETE Database home page, http://etedata.si.edu.
Terminology Conventions for Data Entry: All fields and valids associated with these locality, vertebrate /invertebrate /plant /mollusc&other fields are in the ETE Database Manual on the ETE Database home page, http://etedata.si.edu.
Output Query System: Analysis and query of data is performed through custom scripts written using embedded SQL and C++.
Available User Support: The database no longer employs a full-time database/system/network administrator responsible for technical support, please direct questions and inquiries to Kay Behrensmeyer.
Date of Establishment: The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (ETE) was established in 1987 at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, by a group of paleontologists with common interests and perspectives in the study of terrestrial paleoecology. In 1988, federal support for the program was secured and the ETE Consortium was formed to include individuals at other institutions.
Location: The ETE Program office and database are housed in the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Institutional and Financial Support: Supported as a federal line item appropriation to the Smithsonian Institution.
Long-Term Maintenance Plans: The ETE database will be maintained at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, as a permanent resource for the scientific community.
Contact: Kay Behrensmeyer, behrensmeyer.kay@nmnh.si.edu, and Scott Wing, wing.scott@nmnh.si.edu, are co-directors of the ETE Program.