Accessing the Smithsonian Brachiopod Database

When you get to the Smithsonian Brachiopod Database. you will find a lot of options:
 

You want the option "Search the Fossil and Recent Brachiopod Bibliography"  This is what you will see.
 

To get a complete bibliography of a genus, simply type in the genus name in capital letters, e.g. UNCINULUS

You will get a listing of all the reverences which include UNCINULUS.  I have inserted only the first few references.

 

Gopher Menu      Flood, P.G.      Oehlert, D.-P.      Zhang, Yan      Abramian, M.S.      Alberti, G.K.      Alekseeva, R.E.      Alekseeva, R.E. & Erlanger, O.A.      Alekseeva, R.E.; Gratsianova, R.T.; Yolkin, E.A. & Kul'kov, N.P.      Arthaber, G.V.      Asselberghs, E.      Astre, G.      Barrois, C.; Pruvost, P. & Dubois, G.      Bayle, E.      Biernat, G.      Biernat, G.      Binnekamp, J.G.      Blodgett, R.B.; Savage, N.M.; Pedder, A.E.H. & Rohr, D.M.      Boucot, A.J.; Brett, C.E.; Oliver, W.A., Jr. & Blodgett, R.B.      Bowen, Z.P.      Branson, E.B.      Breivel', I.A. & Breivel', M.G.

For example to find out whether Uncinulus was found in the Cambrian Period, you can run the search

When you click on a reference in the list, you get the entire bibliographic reference.  For example:
 

It includes author, date, title, and publication information.  Then (usually in capital letters) it lists the Keywords.  These include:

• Where the fossils were found:  in this case Germany
• In what period the fossils were found:  in this case the Devonian
• All genera referenced in the article.

• Create a new word processing document
• Go the the results of your genus search
• Click on the first entry
• Select the whole entry             (Control (or Open Apple) A)
• Copy the entry                       (Control (or Open Apple) C)
• Move to the word processing document
• Paste the entry                         (Control (or Open Apple) V)
• Save the document                   (Control (or Open Apple) S)
• Return to the results of the search and repeat this process with each entry

Building a Simplified Database

Most of these bibliography contain more data than I could process in my head, so I created simplified database for each genus.

In order to handle each genus consistantly I developed the following rules:

• I didn't include any reference which included more than one geologic period.  Consider the reference below.  It lists the Carboniferous, Devonian, Permian, and Silurian Periods.  There is no way to tell from the reference, in which of these periods Uncinulus was found.

• Because I was compiling more detailed genus histories which included data on where the fossils were found, I also excluded references which listed more than one location.
• To make it easy on students, I eliminated duplication.  I included the first reference of a find, for example, in Belgium in the Devonian Period, and then omitted all other references.

Getting Computers to Work for You

Can your students come up with a way to sort the data chronologically?     Here's one way to do it.

Create a new column called "Sort". Leaving the data sorted alphabetically by period, enter the appropriate number in the sort field. The easiest way is to enter the mumber once and copy it.
 

The goal of this exercise is to uses these databases to construct a history of each of these genera. Print the chart form, and make copies for your students. I will give you the example of Lingula. In Tennessee, we say that the chicken crossed the road to prove to the possum that it could be done. I chose Lingula for much the same reason. I know that it has existed from the early Cambrian Period to the present. Will this be reflected in the bibliography?
 

Now lets look at the data.  For each genus, you can look at a picture, download a simplified database, or download the complete bibliography