IMIS

One of the main results of the now completed ESF Network on Quaternary Mammal Faunas was a proposal to set up a database of Quaternary mammals of Europe in order to be able to study in detail the relationship between climatic change and faunal evolution in this group The type of study envisaged requires entirely new and sophisticated tools that integrate large masses of data; it is no longer sufficient to take a single or a few samples and extrapolate faunal change from these. Instead, it is necessary to take a European approach and integrate data from several fields, including mammalian faunas and paleoclimate reconstructions, on a continent-wide scale. In order to achieve this integration of data we require some means of storing and manipulating the material in a manner suitable for research: in other words a data bank (database). By storing data in electronically manageable form it becomes possible to compare and integrate large amounts of information. This information can then be used to answer specific questions regarding the overall problem at hand.