Trust note
Selected source-backed records
Maps use curated PBDB, museum, and specimen-source records with visible caveats.
Methodology
How Fossil Atlas handles records
Fossil Atlas is a visual fossil discovery resource. Its maps use selected source-backed records, visible caveats, and labeled reconstruction art so a card can be beautiful without pretending to be a complete scientific database.
Trust note
Modern discovery locations
Pins show where fossils were found or reported today, not exact ancient habitat positions.
Trust note
Reconstruction is not evidence
Artwork is labeled separately from specimen photos, maps, and source records.
1,623
Coordinate-bearing records
59
Open specimen images
25
Model references
Source hierarchy
PBDB occurrence records are the backbone for many fossil pins. Museum aggregators, open media sources, papers, and manual curation add specimen, image, and caveat context when they are useful and license-safe.
Coordinate caveats
Coordinates can come from source records or careful region-level approximation. Fossil Atlas excludes obvious coordinate errors such as null-island records and identical lat/lng artifacts.
Modern discovery vs. ancient habitat
A fossil pin is a modern discovery or report location. It is not a plate-tectonic reconstruction, an ancient coastline, or a complete habitat range.
Reconstruction policy
Reconstruction art is separated from fossil evidence and labeled as not specimen evidence. Specimen photos and source records are treated as evidence; artwork is a learning and sharing aid.
Media licensing
Displayable specimen media must have a clear open license and a cached valid image. Items without usable open licensing stay out of display surfaces.
Corrections
Fossil Atlas is meant to improve. Corrections, missing formations, better source links, and classroom requests should go through the request desk so updates are traceable.
Quality grades
A: 748
Coordinates, source identifier, locality or formation, and specimen catalog context.
B: 864
Coordinates, source identifier, and locality or formation, but less specimen catalog context.
C: 11
Usable coordinate-bearing records with sparse supporting fields.
Source mix
idigbio: 756pbdb: 864paper: 1manual_curation: 1gbif: 19
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