Licenses for the Portuguese Fossil Database

The Portuguese Fossil Database is dedicated to recording information about fossils in Portugal. Help us acquire new licenses for our team!

Paleontology in Portugal has centuries of discoveries and publications. It is an impressive scientific collection not listed, organized or easily accessible to students and researchers.

The Portuguese Fossil Database has the mission of gathering, organizing, analyzing and making available all information about the fossil diversity of our country.

Based on a complex bibliographical analysis to collect data relating to fossil material discovered in Portugal, this project is exclusively developed with the support and dedication of a multidisciplinary team of volunteers made up of students and researchers in the area (find out about the seven current elements in the section "about the promoter").

In operation since 2021, we have participated in 4 national and international congresses with five abstracts. See our video of participation in this year's 4th Palaeontological Virtual Congress:

We have also published the first scientific article about our work:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371133552_Portuguese_Fossil_Database_first_phase_report

With more than 21,000 fossil occurrences gathered to date (individual records of the presence of a specific taxonomic group in a geological site and stratigraphic layer), we have already started the process of migrating the data to the Ninox platform, which allows us to carry out collaborative work. However, Ninox is a paid system, so purchasing licenses incur costs.

This is where your support comes in! As we do not yet have a funding source, we could only acquire one license (a personal purchase) to begin the data migration work. But we need more! The objective will be to have the entire bibliographic analysis team directly feed the database into the Ninox system, making data insertion more efficient and reducing analysis and review time.

This project has enormous potential, not only for the production of science (national and international) but also for education. So please help us, share our campaign on social media, send it to friends and colleagues, or organize a fundraiser at your school! But most of all, please contribute what you can.

Our rewards include pyro-recorded A5 notebooks (atelier abc) and prints of illustrations made by Pedro Andrade
( https://www.instagram.com/definitelynotpedroandrade/ ).

Opções de cadernos pirogravados A5

We are counting on you to achieve this campaign's primary goal: to acquire a new license for a second team member to work on data migration. And, who knows, surpass this goal and go further.

With your support, we will keep this database running and growing! Thanks!!

About the author

Equipa (maio 2023)

Our team currently consists of 7 members (only Miguel is missing in the photo):

Pedro Fialho: I have a PhD in Biology. I coordinate the team and the project, which I hope will become a source of reliable scientific information in Paleontology. With your help, we will be able to reach the goal and have at least one more volunteer in data migration, which is essential to balance the work of data analysis and review.

[BIBLIOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS]

Roberto Silva: I have a master's in Paleontology and am a researcher at the AmbiTerra Laboratory (Univ. Évora). I believe this project will greatly impact the global paleontological community! Your support at this stage is crucial for making it a national reference! Please help us get the tools we need.

Bruno Costa: I am a PhD candidate in Earth Sciences (Univ. Manitoba). I study the taphonomy, paleoenvironments and paleobiodiversity of marine vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway. The Portuguese Fossil Database will be essential for students, teachers and interested parties, showcasing Portugal's paleodiversity!

Sofia Patrocínio: I am a finalist in the Master's Degree in Paleontology (U. Nova de Lisboa and U. Évora), with the thesis "New mammaliaform genus from the Upper Triassic of Kap Stewart Formation of East Greenland". The Portuguese Fossil Database will be highly beneficial to science as a tool in paleontological study.

André Burigo: I am a finalist in the Masters in Paleontology (U. Nova de Lisboa and U. Évora), where I re-described the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus europaeus and the systematics of the genus. This project can have a worldwide reach and be a tool for those interested in paleontology, making the earth's history known with a focus on Portugal.

Miguel Silva: I am a Master's student in Paleontology, studying mammals' evolution during the Miocene Climate Optimum. Compiling and analyzing a wide range of data allows you to speed up the process of scientific research, which is why local databases like this improve scientific results and make work like mine possible.

[ILLUSTRATION]

Pedro Andrade: I am a scientific illustrator and a master's student in Paleontology, studying the Pterosaurs of Portugal. I believe this project will be an essential resource for students and researchers interested in Portuguese Paleontology, where they will have access to data that is now dispersed and difficult to find.

Budget and due dates

The €500 we aim to raise in this campaign includes:

• €46.13 (commissions including VAT)

• €300.00 for one platform license used to build and maintain the database

• €153.87 for costs associated with campaign rewards.

If we exceed our campaign goal, all extra money will be allocated towards renewing existing licenses and/or purchasing new licenses for the team. Your support will be essential for us to continue developing the Portuguese Fossil Database!

The production and delivery of rewards will occur during the 3-4 months following the end of the campaign.

The acquisition and/or renewal of licenses will occur in the first month after the end of this campaign.

We will share each step of the post-campaign roadmap on our social media and website!

Images