Explanation and notes
This page allows you to plot the ranges of species as given on this website, and to compare them with the occurrence data in the Neptune database. The Neptune database is an incomplete record and taxon ranges cannot be accurately determined from it, but the Neptune data does show which taxa are abundant and how their abundance varies through time.
For Cenozoic planktonic forams you can also plot evolutionary trees (Select tree as the sorting mode).
- Neptune data - this is plotted as blue histograms or spindle diagrams. The values are occurrence frequency of the taxon (and synonyms) in the Neptune database, where occurrence frequency = (number of samples with the taxon in the timebin/totla number of samples in the time bin).
- Histogram shading - solid purple shading indicates that there are >50 samples in time bin, below this transparency increases.
- Mikrotax range bars - these show the ranges recorded on this website Pink - interval within which LAD occurs, Green - interval within which FAD occurs.
- Hold the cursor over the plot to get 'tool tip' info on colours and plotted values.
- BEWARE - Neptune does not really have enough data in the Cretaceous to be very reliable. Likewise some ranges from the website are only rough estimates.
For more explanation of the database and important caveats on using the plots - Neptune database introduction