A major problem with paleontologic information is that the names by which fossils are recorded tend to change in meaning over the years, and to be applied differently by different authors. This prevents the growth of an enduring, reliable data base for biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental interpretations. We are using the storage and sorting capabilities of a microcomputer to supplement Linnaean names with a searchable system of morphologic descriptors. A problem with systems of descriptors is that they can convey only a very limited fraction of the information about the shape of a fossil. Our microcomputer system, therefore, has the capability of storing a low-resolution image together with the set of verbal and numeric descriptors of each form.

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