7-10 Primary care, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the Baja California Paleontological Reference Collection (PALEOMAR) Ensenada, Mexico.

Session: Earth Life Sciences across the Cordillera (Posters)

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

Paleontological collections are essential for reconstructing past biodiversity and their connection to modern biotas through paleobiological, geological, and climatological analyses. Given their scientific value, fossil collections require continuous care and maintenance to ensure long-term preservation. For more than 35 years, the Autonomous University of Baja California has safeguarded the Baja California Paleontological Reference Collection, established around 1990 by paleontologists Miguel Agustín Téllez and Francisco Aranda (PALEOMAR), and comprising specimens from at least 30 localities across the state. The collection contains approximately 20000 fossils, including marine invertebrates, plants, terrestrial and marine vertebrates (dinosaurs, sharks, turtles, birds), as well as the holotype of Metaxytherium arctodites. In 2025, a comprehensive review identified several critical issues such as deteriorated labels, missing data, lack of cataloging, physical degradation of specimens and their disintegration, and large amounts of unclassified material. Rehabilitation efforts in the PAELOMAR initiated in late 2025 is currently focused on: (1) conducting a comprehensive and systematic inventory, (2) recovering provenance and collection data, (3) specimen maintenance and conservation task, (4) creating a formal catalog and register the specimens, (5) digital database development, (6) formalizing the collection through the establishment of internal regulations, (7) registering with academic and governmental authorities to secure legal protection, and (8) applying for research projects aimed at prospecting and recovering new material. Further work will include developing methodologies to assist in identifying the provenance of specimens lacking contextual information, with support from sedimentology, geochemistry, and geology specialists. To date, more than 140 specimens have undergone maintenance, repair, confinement, label replacement, data recovery, and cataloging. Immediate and systematic attention to this collection is critical for their preservation. Given its taxonomic and geographic diversity PALEOMAR represents a heritage for Baja California and Mexico, as well as the global scientific community.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 3, 2026

© Copyright 2026 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved.