ABOUT THE FAUNMAP DATABASE


The primary data are published occurrences of mammals of Pliocene through Holocene age from the United States and Canada. For each species occurrence, the following data were entered: taxonomic name, latitude and longitude, relative age range, geological occurrence, and taphonomic information as specified at the FAUNMAP data site.

Geographic coverage is the United States (all sites excluding Hawaii) and Canada (all sites excluding the Canadian Archipelago).

The FAUNMAP database structure here parallels the MIOMAP structure to facilitate analyses that require both databases.

The version of the FAUNMAP data on this website is a merger of two separate FAUNMAP databases, FAUNMAP I and FAUNMAP II.

FAUNMAP I was a community project led by Russell Graham and Ernest Lundelius, Jr., with the original data set served through the Illinois State Museum. It covered the temporal interval from about 50,000 years ago to 500 years ago, i.e., the effective range of radiocarbon dating. Primary data entry began on FAUNMAP I in 1990 and concluded in 1994. Over the past 15 years, periodic updates have been made, the last one in 2003.

FAUNMAP II was a project undertaken by Russell Graham and Ernest Lundelius, Jr., to extend the FAUNMAP I-style data back through the entire Pleistocene to the beginning of the Pliocene, i.e., the time period ~5 million years ago to 50,000 years ago. Data entry for FAUNMAP II occurred between 1999 and 2003.

The versions of the FAUNMAP (both I and II) database served here is essentially the 2003 edition, with some updating through error-checking that occurred as data tables were being made compatible for joint use with MIOMAP. It should be considered an archival database, meaning that the information is a static representation of the data entered before June of 2003, with taxonomy and age assignments appropriately converted to the standards as described on subsequent pages (taxonomic and temporal standards).

For use in research applications, the complete or partial database can be downloaded. Users should update the archival database as appropriate for their purposes, and cite the FAUNMAP project as noted in the user information citation.

 
Use of this resource in publications should be cited as:
Graham, R.W., and E.L. Lundelius, Jr. 2010. FAUNMAP II: New data for North America with a temporal extension for the Blancan, Irvingtonian and early Rancholabrean. FAUNMAP II Database, version 1.0 this website.