Journal
SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY
Volume 64, Issue 5, Pages 853-859Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syv025
Keywords
Calibration; divergence dating; fossil
Categories
Funding
- National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NSF) [EF-0905606]
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for Biodiversity Synthesis Group of Encyclopedia of Life
- Palaeontological Association
- Paleontological Society
- Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
- Western Interior Paleontological Society
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/G006660/1, BB/J00538X/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/G009600/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- BBSRC [BB/G006660/1, BB/J00538X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- NERC [NE/G009600/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Fossils provide the principal basis for temporal calibrations, which are critical to the accuracy of divergence dating analyses. Translating fossil data into minimum and maximum bounds for calibrations is the most important-often least appreciated-step of divergence dating. Properly justified calibrations require the synthesis of phylogenetic, paleontological, and geological evidence and can be difficult for nonspecialists to formulate. The dynamic nature of the fossil record (e.g., new discoveries, taxonomic revisions, updates of global or local stratigraphy) requires that calibration data be updated continually lest they become obsolete. Here, we announce the Fossil Calibration Database (http://fossilcalibrations.org), a new open-access resource providing vetted fossil calibrations to the scientific community. Calibrations accessioned into this database are based on individual fossil specimens and follow best practices for phylogenetic justification and geochronological constraint. The associated Fossil Calibration Series, a calibration-themed publication series at Palaeontologia Electronica, will serve as a key pipeline for peer-reviewed calibrations to enter the database.
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