Online taxonomic dictionary of planktonic foraminifera

In the aim of helping users about taxonomic synonymy and validity of species, the International Planktonic Foraminifera Working Groups have undertaken the heavy task to revise the taxonomy of all species known from the Mesozoic through the Oligocene. The WGs operate through the CHRONOS web site, a geoinformatic project sponsored by the NSF(USA). Record for each species includes original and emended descriptions, morphologic descriptor fields, synonymy, biostratigraphic range information, original and new images of holotypes, and SEM images that illustrate the morphologic variability of the species concept. During the working process the database is visible only by the WG members through password protection, but once it is finished the database is accessible to any visitor. So far the Paleocene and Eocene WGs have completed their task and published two Atlas (Olsson R.K., Hemleben C., Berggren W.A., Huber B.T., Eds, 1999, Smithsonian Contr. to Paleobiology 85; Pearson P.N., Olsson R.K., Huber B.T., Hemleben C., Berggren W.A., Eds, 2006, Cushman Found. Spec. Publ. 41): the Paleocene database is online and accessible to any visitor on the CHRONOS web site, while uploading of the Eocene database is underway. Mesozoic and Oligocene Working Groups are still working being the database very large in the case of the Mesozoic (over 470 species listed) and only at the beginning in the case of the Oligocene. In both cases, an Atlas will be published beside the database to be accessible online