Biodiversity Data Journal :
Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Corresponding author: Francisca Alejandra Beltrán Echeverría (fbeltran2019@udec.cl), Laura Tavera Martínez (ltavera@udec.cl)
Academic editor: Alberto Collareta
Received: 12 Dec 2023 | Accepted: 28 Jan 2024 | Published: 29 Feb 2024
© 2024 Francisca Beltrán Echeverría, Laura Tavera Martínez, Cristián Hernández
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Beltrán Echeverría F, Tavera Martínez L, Hernández CE (2024) Fossil Collection at the Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción: enhancing understanding of Chile's past biodiversity. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e117275. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e117275
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The digital inventory of paleontological material stored in Chilean museums is highly relevant as it increases accessibility to information, both locally and over long distances, while reducing wear and tear on specimens caused by physical manipulation. The Fossil Collection database of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Concepción (UCC_MZUC_FOS) includes 144 records, with the main representatives being marine invertebrates of the Bivalvia, Echinoidea and Gastropoda classes. Notable species include Encope calderensis, Hemiaster wayensis, Zygochlamys patagonica and Retrotapes exalbidus, most of which come from important Chilean fossil sites. Material was collected between 1970 and 2017, with a large portion of it being donated and identified by Professor Emeritus Hugo I. Moyano and Dr. Alberto Larraín. Although the specimens contained in the resource offer basic collecting information, they substantially contribute to sharing knowledge on the fossils kept in the museums throughout the country, while providing data on their distribution.
This resource corresponds to the first publication of data on faunal fossils from a museum collection in Chile on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) platform, thereby enhancing the understanding and documentation of Chile's paleontological heritage and its national biodiversity.
fossils, databases, biological collections, Chile, fossiliferous localities, marine invertebrates.
Chile’s palaeontological heritage is rich and diverse, with numerous fossiliferous localities distributed throughout its territory (
The creation of inventories of biological collections and their subsequent digitisation in standard biodiversity formats, such as Darwin Core (DwC), has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This format provides a common language for sharing biodiversity data through a set of terms with clearly defined semantics that can be understood by people or interpreted by software, allowing the appropriation of the encoded data (
Given the importance of faunal fossil records in Chile, the objective of this work is to contribute to the knowledge and documentation of fossils housed in Chilean museums, with emphasis on the material from localities of the national territory. The Fossil Collection at the Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción (UCCC_MZUC_FOS) is mainly composed of material bequeathed by the professors of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Hugo I. Moyano and Alberto Larraín, starting in 1986. The collection consists of 144 specimens of fossil fauna that provide information on two important geological formations of the Biobío Region, the Quiriquina Formation and the Tubul Formation, as well as fossiliferous localities in the regions of Antofagasta (Quebrada El Way) and Atacama (Punta Cabeza de Vaca), amongst others.
This collection is digitised in DwC format and published in the Global Biodiversity Information System–GBIF, constituting the first database on faunal fossils in Chile. Therefore, this work is crucial for the preservation and accesibility of Chile's paleontological heritage.
The Quebrada El Way fossiliferous deposit is located about 10 km south of the City of Antofagasta and is the type locality of the El Way Formation (
The Quiriquina Formation represents Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) transgressive deposits (
The specimens of the species Encope calderensis listed in the collection database come from the upper levels of a coastal cliff south of Punta Cabeza de Vaca, Atacama Region, which is comprised of Pliocene marine sediments (
Finally, the Tubul Formation, whose type locality is located in the southern sector of the Gulf of Arauco, was deposited rapidly during the late Pliocene near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary in a nearshore area (
All the specimens come from the American continent, 141 are from Chile, two from Argentina and a single specimen from the United States (Fig.
Main collection locations for specimens from the MZUC-UCCC Fossil Collection.
Location |
Country |
Region (if applicable) |
Bristol Bay |
United States |
|
Cerro Negro, Potrerillos |
Argentina |
|
Checo del Cobre, Nantoco |
Chile |
Atacama |
Punta Cabeza de Vaca |
Chile |
Atacama |
Quebrada El Way |
Chile |
Antofagasta |
Cocholgüe |
Chile |
Biobio |
Lirquén |
Chile |
Biobio |
Las Tablas Beach, Quiriquina Island |
Chile |
Biobio |
Quiriquina Formation |
Chile |
Biobio |
Caleta Tubul |
Chile |
Biobio |
Tubul Formation |
Chile |
Biobio |
Arauco Beach |
Chile |
Biobio |
Arauco to Lebu road |
Chile |
Biobio |
Road to Lebu |
Chile |
Biobio |
Valdivia |
Chile |
Los Ríos |
Cuesta Los Quinientos |
Chile |
Los Ríos |
Quenuir, Maullín River mouth |
Chile |
Los Lagos |
Sector Flamenco, between Caleta San Sebastián and Bahía Inútil |
Chile |
Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica |
All taxa were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic category. The taxonomic coverage included one kingdom, six phyla, 10 classes, 24 orders, 34 families, 42 genera and 25 species (valid and invalid). The most represented classes in the collection are Bivalvia, with 57 specimens and Echinoidea, with 51 specimens. They are followed by the classes Gastropoda (14), Rhynchonellata (8), Cephalopoda (4), Polychaeta (1), Sauropsida (1), Scaphopoda (1) and Thecostraca (1) (Fig.
Representatives of the MZUC-UCCC Fossil collection. 1: Cephalopoda MZUC-UCCC 45745. 2: Baculites sp. MZUC-UCCC 46366. 3: Balanus sp. MZUC-UCCC 45746. 4: Loxechinus sp. MZUC-UCCC 18133. 5: Plesiosaurus sp. MZUC-UCCC 45747. 6: Encope calderensis MZUC-UCCC 10762. 7: Hemiaster wayensis MZUC-UCCC 10811. 8: Retrotapes exalbidus MZUC-UCCC 45722. 9: Zygochlamys patagonica MZUC-UCCC 45736. Scale: 1 centimetre. Photographs by: Francisca Beltrán.
Data quality control: The taxonomic information originally recorded by the collectors and/or determiners of each specimen was validated. For this, the “Match Taxa” tool of the World Register of Marine Species (
Rank | Scientific Name | Common Name |
---|---|---|
class | Bivalvia | Bivalve |
class | Cephalopoda | Cephalopod |
genus | Baculites | |
genus | Balanus | Acorn barnacle |
genus | Carcharias | |
genus | Dentalium | |
genus | Fusitriton | |
genus | Loxechinus | |
genus | Ostrea | Oyster |
genus | Pacitrigonia | |
genus | Plesiosaurus | Plesiosaur |
genus | Retrotapes | Clam |
genus | Rhynchonella | |
genus | Scapanorhynchus | |
genus | Schizaster | |
genus | Serpula | |
genus | Tegula | |
genus | Trophon | |
genus | Turritella | |
species | Acanthina unicornis | |
species | Bela paessleri | |
species | Chorus giganteus | Trumulco snail |
species | Cirsotrema magellanicum | |
species | Crepidula dilatata | |
species | Echinarachnius parma | Sand dollar |
species | Encope calderensis | |
species | Ennucula grayi | |
species | Ensis macha | Concha navaja, huepo, Chilean macha, navajuela |
species | Eurhomalea exalbida | Clam |
species | Euspira guamblinensis | |
species | Fusitriton magellanicus | |
species | Hemiaster wayensis | |
subspecies | Iheringiella patagonensis | |
species | Ischyrhiza chilensis | Plesiosaur |
species | Leukoma antiqua | Clam |
species | Macoploma inornata | |
species | Magellania venosa | |
species | Mangelia paessleri | |
species | Monophoraster darwini | |
species | Pandora braziliensis | |
species | Pseudechinus magellanicus | Dwarf hedgehog |
species | Tindariopsis sulculata | |
species | Xymenopsis dispar | |
species | Zygochlamys patagonica | Patagonian oction |
The specimens were collected between 1970 and 2017 (Fig.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License.
The resource consists of a database of fossils belonging to the Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción (
The following data categories from the Darwin Core Standard were used:
Column label | Column description |
---|---|
occurrenceID | Unique correlative indicator of the biological record. |
basisOfRecord | “FossilSpecimen” for all records. |
type | “PhysicalObject” for all records. |
institutionCode | “Museum of Zoology of the University of Concepción (MZUC-UCCC)” for all records. |
institutionID | The identifier of the institution to which the resource was referred. |
collectionCode | “UCCC_MZUC_FOS” for all records. |
collectionID | The identifier of the collection or dataset to which the resource was derived. |
catalogNumber | Correlative number. |
datasetName | “Fossil Collection of the Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción” for all records. |
language | Spanish. |
license | CC BY-NC 4.0. |
rightsHolder | “Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción” for all records. |
accessRights | “not-for-profit use only” for all records. |
ownerInstitutionCode | “Museum of Zoology of the University of Concepción (MZUC-UCCC)” for all records. |
recordedBy | Name of the person responsible for the registration. |
individualCount | Number of registered individuals. |
organismScope | DwC instance type description: Organism. It can be used to indicate whether the dwc instance: Organism represents a discrete organism or whether it represents a particular type of aggregation. |
previousIdentifications | A list of previous naming assignments to the dwc: Organism. |
preparation | “Fossil” for all records. |
disposition | “In collection” for all records. |
eventDate | The date and time or interval during which the event occurred. |
year | The four-digit year in which the event occurred, according to the Common Era Calendar. |
month | The entire month in which the event occurred. |
day | The entire day of the month in which the event occurred. |
verbatimEventDate | The original textual representation of the date and time information for the event. |
fieldNumber | An identifier given to the event in the field. |
continent | The name of the continent on which the locality occurs. |
waterBody | The name of the body of water in which the locality occurs. |
islandGroup | The name of the group of islands on which the locality occurs. |
island | The name of the island on or near which the locality occurs. |
country | The name of the country or main administrative unit in which the locality occurs. |
countryCode | The standard code for the country in which the locality occurs. |
stateProvince | The name of the next administrative region smaller than the country (state, region) in which the locality occurs. |
county | The full, unabbreviated name of the administrative region next smaller than stateProvince in which the locality occurs. |
municipality | The full, unabbreviated name of the administrative region smaller than the county in which the locality occurs. |
locality | The specific description of the place. |
verbatimLocality | The original textual description of the place. |
verbatimDepth | The original description of the depth below the local surface. |
locationRemarks | Comments or notes from the locality. |
earliestEonOrLowestEonothem | The full name of the earliest possible geochronological eon attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
latestEonOrHighestEonothem | The full name of the latest possible geochronological eon attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
earliestEraOrLowestErathem | The full name of the earliest possible geochronological era attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
latestEraOrHighestErathem | The full name of the latest possible geochronological era attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the feature was collected. |
earliestPeriodOrLowestSystem | The full name of the earliest possible geochronological period attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the catalogued element was collected. |
latestPeriodOrHighestSystem | The full name of the latest possible geochronological period attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the feature was collected. |
earliestEpochOrLowestSeries | The full name of the earliest possible geochronological epoch attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
latestEpochOrHightestSeries | The full name of the latest possible geochronological epoch attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the feature was collected. |
earliestAgeOrLowestStage | The full name of the earliest possible geochronological age attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
latestAgeOrHighestStage | The full name of the latest possible geochronological age attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the element was collected. |
lithostratigraphicTerms | The combination of all lithostratigraphic names of the rock from which the element was collected. |
formation | The full name of the lithostratigraphic formation from which the element was collected. |
identifiedBy | A list of names of people, groups or organisations that assigned the name to the taxon. |
dateIdentified | The date the taxon was determined. |
identificationReferences | A list of references (publication) used in identification. |
typeStatus | Nomenclatural types (holotype, paratype). |
scientificName | The name of the species or taxon of the record. |
scientificNameAuthorship | Authorship information for the scientific name. |
kingdom | The scientific name of the kingdom in which the taxon is classified. |
phylum | The scientific name of the phylum in which the taxon is classified. |
class | The scientific name of the class in which the taxon is classified. |
order | The scientific name of the order in which the taxon is classified. |
family | The scientific name of the family in which the taxon is classified. |
subfamily | The scientific name of the subfamily in which the taxon is classified. |
genus | The scientific name of the genus in which the taxon is classified. |
specificEpithet | The name of the species epithet of the scientific name. |
taxonRank | The taxonomic rank of the most specific name of the scientific name. |
verbatimTaxonRank | The taxonomic rank of the most specific name of the scientific name as it appears in the original record. |
vernacularName | Common name. |
taxonomicStatus | The status of use of the scientific name (invalid, synonym, valid). |
acceptedNameUsage | Accepted name in use. |
Prior to digitising the collection, several researchers and students reviewed the collection, mainly from the Faculty of Natural and Oceanographic Sciences of the University of Concepción. The marine biologist Marina Fuentes created the Fossil Collection of the Zoology Museum of the University of Concepción in 2017, performing the verification of the status of the specimens, their sampling data and taxonomic determination. Dr. Alberto Larraín Prat collected and determined several of the specimens and authored the species H. wayensis, whose holotype is in this collection. Professor Emeritus Hugo Moyano also collected and determined some specimens. Finally, in 2022, the resource was created by the author, optimising the internal database of the Museum of Zoology according to the standard criteria of the Darwin Core format reported in this study, along with the development of the metadata and the photographic record of the specimens of the collection.
This resource is the first publication on faunal fossil data from a museum collection in Chile, thus constituting a valuable contribution to the knowledge of historical biodiversity. It is located in one of the most important international repositories of biodiversity (GBIF), with free access for the community and with a standard format (DwC) that facilitates its understanding. For this reason, the digitisation and publication of biological (specifically, paleontological) collections in formats accepted worldwide, are of great relevance to expand access to information and promote the development of research in different areas of biology, thus allowing us to understand the changes of past biodiversity through large temporal and spatial scales.
Francisca Beltrán would like to express her sincere gratitude to Marina Fuentes and Myriam Ramírez for their assistance in the maintenance of the Fossil Collection and in the development of the resource. She would like to thank Carolina Cuevas for her guidance in the process of digitising the collection in standard Darwin Core format. Thanks to Leisy Montano, director of the GBIF Chile node, for her recommendations to improve the final version of the database. Thanks to Dr. Laura Tavera for her advice in the development and refinement of this paper, which significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Thanks to Dr. Cristián Hernández for his support and the enriching discussions on the importance of Chile's past biodiversity. Thanks to FONDECYT Project No 1201506 for providing funding to this scientific article. Finally, F.B. thanks the reviewers of Biodiversity Data Journal who provided valuable comments on this Data Paper.
F.B. contributed to developing the concept of the scientific article, carried out collection maintenance tasks, digitised data in internal museum format and Standard Darwin Core format with its respective metadata and carried out photographic documentation of samples per species present in the collection.
L.T. supervised the elaboration of the manuscript, editing and refining its writing to bring it to its best quality state.
C.E.H. supported the development of the concept of the manuscript, enriching it with his advice and providing the funds for this publication.