EPPE Laetoli Fossil Specimen Database: 13,716 Records from 1998-2005

13,716 records of plant and animal fossils, representing approximately 28,248 specimens, collected by the Eyasi Plateau Paleontological Expedition at Laetoli, Tanzania between 1998 and 2005. Denné Reed created this digital version of the original hard-copy catalogue, documenting Pliocene and Pleistocene fauna and flora from 4.4 million to over 200,000 years ago. The database is one of the few publicly available palaeoanthropological fossil datasets.

Use Cases

• Analyzing taxonomic diversity and fossil discovery patterns based on stratigraphic provenience data.
• Studying the temporal distribution of fauna and flora across the 4.4 Ma to >200 ka time range.
• Mapping fossil occurrences to understand paleoecological contexts at the Laetoli site.
• Using provisional field identifications as a baseline for comparative taxonomic studies.

Strengths

• Contains 13,716 catalogued fossil records from a significant paleoanthropological site.
• Documents a temporal range from 4.4 million years ago to over 200,000 years ago.
• Includes important hominin fossil discoveries, such as Australopithecus afarensis and early Homo sapiens.
• Serves as an example for expanding open access to primary fossil occurrence data in the field.

Limitations

• Taxonomic identifications are provisional field identifications and require reference to updated specialist publications.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Eyasi Plateau Paleontological Expedition (EPPE) field teams.

Collection Method

Digital version of the original hard-copy specimen catalogue from field collections.

Time Range

1998 to 2005 (collection period); fossils date from 4.4 million years ago to over 200,000 years ago.

Geography

Laetoli, Tanzania.