SGER: Salvaging a Unique Early Eocene Biota from the Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi

密西西比梅里迪安的早始新世生物群包括多种多样的植物、软体动物、鱼类、蛇、鸟类和哺乳动物，它们都沉积在河口水道和沼泽中。 产生这种独特的早始新世生物群的所有地点都发生在私人拥有的土地上，计划即将开发。 这一提议将尽可能多地抢救这一地区的古生物群和相关的背景数据，以免因商业开发而永久丧失科学价值。 为期两周的实地工作将集中在筛洗大量含磷沉积物，以便对托斯卡纳和巴什地层的脊椎动物进行采样。 在实验室里进一步分类将能鉴定出有用的化石标本和碎片。

The early Eocene biota of Meridian, Mississippi, includes a diverse biota from plants, molluscs, fishes, snakes, birds, and mammals that were deposited in estuarine channels and swamps. All sites yielding this unique early Eocene biota occur on privately-owned lland that is scheduled for imminent development. This proposal will salvage as much of the ancient biota of this region and associated contextual data as is possible prior to its permanent loss to science because of commercial development. Two weeks of field work on site will concentrate on screen-washing large volumes of fossiliferous sediment, in order to sample the vertebrates of the Tuscahoma and Bashi formations. Further sorting in the laboratory will identify useful fossil specimens and fragments.