A database of fossil occurrences in the Ordovician of Baltoscandia

A database recording published fossil occurrences in the Ordovician of Baltoscandia has been constructed and made available on the Internet (http://asaphus.uio.no). The database presently contains 10340 entries, each recording the first and last appearances of a single species at a single locality, together with other stratigraphical, taxonomic and geographical information. The data are taken from 141 publications, most of them from 1980 or later but also included are some older key references. The database will be continuously maintained, revised and expanded. In addition to serving as a reference for researchers working on the Ordovician of Baltoscandia, the database has been used to produce biodiversity curves for different fossil groups. These curves reflect the global increase in biodiversity through the Ordovician, but also show interesting local fluctuations.