Material Reports No. 37.
DATABASE OF CRETACEOUS AMMONITE SPECIMENS REGISTERED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
Kazushige TANABE1, Yasuhiro ITO2, Kazuyoshi MORIYA1, and Takenori SASAKI2
1 Geological Institute, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
2 University Museum, University of Tokyo
Preface
Ammonites recorded in this database belong to the cephalopod molluscs and had been flourished in the oceans throughout Middle Paleozoic and Mesozoic. External shell remains of ammonites occur abundantly in the marine Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits of various regions, and their rich fossil record shows that ammonites achieved remarkable morphological evolution in a number of lineages.
Marine Cretaceous deposits in the Japanese Islands (especially Hokkaido Island) and adjacent areas (Sakhalin and Kuril Islands) yield rich and diverse ammonites. Since the first description of some species from Hokkaido and Sakhalin by Matajiro Yokoyama in 1890, ammonites from these regions have been extensively studied by many workers from the viewpoints of taxonomy, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, taphonomy, functional morphology, theoretical morphology, early ontogeny, and so on. Ammonite specimens used in the previous studies in Japan count for more than 10,000, in which 1,500 specimens including about 200 type specimens are housed in the Department of Historical Geology and Paleontology of the University Museum, University of Tokyo. Type and figured paleontological specimens including ammonite ones in the University Museum have been catalogued by Mr. Takeo Ichikawa and published in the Material Reports from the museum on four occasions (Part 1 with Itaru Hayami in 1978, Part 2 in 1983, Part 3 in 1988, and Part 4 in 1995).
Based on these catalogues we have prepared a database for Cretaceous ammonites. This database was written using the database software, File Maker Pro. Ver. 4. It includes fundamental data for the specimens registered until the end of 1998. If a given specimen has been studied repeatedly, more than two data cards were prepared for it. Each data card was made by comparing the description with the original specimen and includes the following data: 1) described name, 2) original name, 3) higher taxonomy (based on Wright, C. W. with Collman, J. H. and Howarth, M. K., 1988: Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L (Mollusca 4 Revised) published from the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press), 4) Repository (indicating registered number), 5) type of specimen, 6) condition, 7) citation, 8) horizon, 9) geological age, 10) locality, 11) reference, 12) locality guide paper (if available), and 13) remarks. In the attached CD-ROM, color picture is also shown for the holotypes, lectotypes and some syntypes. Data cards are easily searched, rearranged, printed out, and complied in another data file by a single or plural items. The output data shown in this book are arranged in alphabetic order of the described name. In near future this database will be opened to the public in the home page of the University Museum.
We express our sincere gratitude to the following persons for their help in preparing this database: Mr. Takeo Ichikawa (University Museum, University of Tokyo), Dr. Sin’ichi Sato (National Science Museum, Tokyo), Dr. Ken’ichi Kanazawa (UMUT), Dr. Fumihisa Kawabe (NSMT), Mr. Ryoji Wani (Waseda University), and Dr. Yasunari Shigeta (NSMT). This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Promotion of Opening of Scientific Results to the Public (Database) of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports (no. 503008 for 1997-1999) and the Project Research Fund from the University Museum, University of Tokyo.
Kazushige Tanabe
