Early Mammalian Evolution

这项建议旨在寻求机会，以提高我们对早期哺乳动物的形态、功能解剖学和系统发育的知识。这些机会是由于最近在东格陵兰的弗莱明峡湾组上部发现了相关的哈拉米亚哺乳动物遗骸而产生的。这一发现不仅揭示了早期哺乳动物之间比以前所知的更大的多样性，而且还表明，新的证据可能会很容易地改变目前早期哺乳动物进化的概念框架。拟议中的调查将通过从沉积物中恢复相关的骨骼遗骸来利用这一发现。从弗莱明峡湾地层中恢复更多相关的哺乳动物骨骼材料的现实前景为显著增加我们对哺乳动物早期进化的了解提供了极好的潜力。

This proposal is designed to pursue opportunities to advance our knowledge of the morphology, functional anatomy, and phylogeny of early mammals. These opportunities developed as the result of the recent discovery of associated remains of a haramiyid mammal in the upper Fleming Fjord Formation of East Greenland. The discovery not only reveals greater diversity among early mammals than previously known, but also demonstrates how readily the current conceptual framework of early mammalian evolution may be reordered by new evidence. The proposed investigation will exploit this discovery by recovering associated skeletal remains from the deposits. The realistic prospect of recovering additional associated mammalian skeletal material from the Fleming Fjord Formation offers excellent potential to increase significantly our knowledge of the early evolution of Mammalia.