186 New Approaches to Old Fossil Collections (Posters)

Material collected during the early history of paleontology conserves deep time ecosystems and remains available for study. We invite presentations of new analyses and interpretations of well-studied collections in the context of the broader history of the discipline.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, Hall 1

It’s (Auto)Morphin’ Time: Comparing Manual and Digital Morphological Data Collection

Paper number: 186-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Body size is a key trait that can provide insight into questions related to evolution, extinction, ecology, and past environments; as such, it is frequently measured by paleontologists. However, measuring specimens manually comes with high investments of time and labor. This has not dissuaded researchers from collecting specimen measurements, as this basic information is critical for examining evolutionary and ecological trends, but the time required remains a limiting factor to the creation of large datasets. Our ability to collect data is always advancing as we integrate new technologies into our discipline. Despite many technological advances, large morphological data sets remain uncommon, as methodology to collect those data requires the development of technical expertise. One proposed method to collect this data more rapidly has been the AutoMorph package, a software that batch processes large sets of images and rapidly outputs measurements. While this method is effective in capturing large data sets, measurement accuracy should be verified before implementing this approach for a large project. We have started this process using fossil bivalves from the Panama Paleontology Project.

For this project, we have collected both manual and AutoMorph measurements of length, width, and height from a collection of Chione from the Ground Creek Formation (3.5 MA), Bocas del Toro, Panama. Our manual measurements were collected using a pair of calipers, while digital measurements were collected by first photographing specimens using a Canon Mark IV, exporting raw images, and then processing them through the AutoMorph suite. So far, we have processed 300 samples of both physical and digital measurements. Through this work, we detail a workflow for setting up the software, discuss comparisons between manual and digital data collection, and present, and share some of our recommendations.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412141

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