A key outcome of our work has been a dramatic increase in the availability of and access to specimens in our collections, along with their associated data. This information has been made available to both the scientific community and also the general public.  In particular, we have databased more than 295,000 fossil specimens housed at the Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas (KU); across our entire project and including all of our collaborators at other museums more than 1,000,000 specimens have been databased.  We at KU have also georeferenced more than 11,600 fossil localities that these specimens come from (with 5,000 more localities georeferenced across the entire project as well), so now the occurrences of these specimens can be pinpointed on a map using latitude and longitude values. The specimen and locality data are shared via the web at www.iDigBio.org and www.GBIF.org , the two major places where scientists search for collections data, as well as at the KU website https://biodiversity.ku.edu/invertebrate-paleontology/collections/collections-search .

Analysis of the specimen data collected as part of the project has led to the publication of several scientific research results and insights that in essence focus on where marine fossil species occur, how their geographic distributions have changed through time, the various factors that cause these changes, and what influences their survival or extinction over the long term.  For instance, we were able to use specimen data in conjunction with computer mapping software and various statistical analyses to consider how past climate changes affected marine species that have lived along the eastern coast of the US for the last several million years.  We found that it was primarily climate, as opposed to competition, that determined where species lived.  Further, these species remained stable in their environmental preferences even as climate changed significantly.  Basically, that meant that as climate changed species were not changing their habitats.  Instead, their geographic ranges either moved up or down the coast or nearer or further from shore, tracking their preferred environment; however, in considering many different species, we found that each often responded distinctly in terms of the direction of their migrations and how far they migrated. This is because each species has a mostly unique set of environmental preferences.  As part of our research we also found that whether an organism was more or less active played an important role in determining if the species it belonged to was likely to survive or go extinct.  Ultimately our work in this area and the data we generated allowed us to consider several of the various factors that cause species to evolve, remain stable, or go extinct over long periods of time.  

We also considered how some of the marine mollusk species found along the eastern coast of the US today, especially some of the ones most crucial for humans because they represent important food sources for us or fish that we harvest, would respond to predicted future climate changes.  What we found was that many of these species are likely to be quite negatively affected by future climate changes; if the changes happen to be towards the higher end of the range forecasted, then many of these species are likely to go extinct.

The project also led to broader impacts and products for outreach.  For example, as part of the project at KU we trained and supported 2 post-doctoral fellows, 5 graduate students, and 7 undergraduate students. We, along with our partners, also share information online about the many fossil species we databased through resources such as the “Digital Atlas of Ancient Life”, http://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/ , and also an app of the same name, http://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/digital-atlas-app-now-available/ , that provides content for handheld devices.  The information we provide with these resources includes descriptions, images, and maps, making it possible for amateur fossil collectors and the general public to learn where to find fossils and how to identify them. 

Last Modified: 08/08/2018
Modified by: Bruce S Lieberman