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New Zealand Is the First Country to Open Its Fossil Database to the Public

The Fossil Record Electronic Database (FRED) is an important tool for many paleontologists—and amateur dinosaur enthusiasts can use it, too.

The online database covers nearly all the fossils discovered in New Zealand.
The online database covers nearly all the fossils discovered in New Zealand. | Walter Geiersperger/GettyImages

Fossils are windows to the past. Whether they formed from the bones of ferocious dinosaurs or their less-impressive waste products, they provide essential information about the world millions of years ago. Now, New Zealand is enabling more people to study the natural artifacts. The country is the first to host its own, nearly-comprehensive fossil database that’s open to the public.

It’s called the Fossil Record Electronic Database, or FRED. According to Live Science, a hard-copy version of the collection was spearheaded in 1946 by geologist Harold Wellman (known for discovering the Alpine Fault in New Zealand) and others. The team kept map references, site serial numbers, and fossil descriptions on forms in a filing cabinet. The scientists also noted the geology of the fossil sites, including rock grain size and color. With this wealth of information organized in one place over decades, bringing New Zealand’s fossil record online was relatively simple.

FRED is an open-access database, meaning anyone—from experienced paleontologists to amateur fossil fanatics—can access and contribute to the resource. Interesting Engineering reports that four curators from different universities check all entries and ensure that errors don’t slip through the cracks. 

The official FRED website states that it contains records of more than 100,000 fossil locations. FRED isn’t the only—nor the biggest—fossil database out there. However, no other open-access database covers one specific area as extensively. Most location entries in FRED are in New Zealand, but some fall in the southeastern part of the Pacific Islands and Antarctica’s Ross Sea region. The Geoscience Society of New Zealand and the GNS research institute, which manage the project together, regularly update the database as well.

Nowadays, New Zealand scientists are often required to record their fossil discoveries in FRED for scientific publications and academic theses. The dataset paves the way for groundbreaking research. For example, in 2018, scientists in the U.S. reviewed FRED data and found new information about the extinction rates of mollusk species. They found the invertebrates are dying off in alarming numbers in the Caribbean and New Zealand.

The online database can also benefit later generations—if it lasts. Due to funding cuts and job layoffs, the future of FRED and paleontology in New Zealand isn’t set in stone.

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