Collaborative Research: testing the link between climate and mammalian faunal dynamics in the early Paleocene record of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico

合作研究：在新墨西哥州的圣胡安盆地的古新世早期记录中测试气候和古生物群动态之间的联系。托马斯·威廉姆森，新墨西哥州自然历史博物馆基金会，1325544罗斯·西科德，内布拉斯加大学，林肯，1325612丹尼尔·佩普，贝勒大学，1325552摘要新墨西哥州西北部的纳西米恩托组包含了最完整、最多样、最丰富的古生物群，也是世界上已知的最长的古新世早期哺乳动物进化记录，从大约6580万年前到6220万年前。古新世早期对于理解现代生态系统的演化特别重要，因为它包括第一个哺乳动物主导的生态系统，这些生态系统是在白垩纪末非鸟类恐龙灭绝后立即出现的。这是一个世界比现在更温暖的时期，气候似乎不稳定。这项研究将测试古新世早期气候与哺乳动物区系变化之间的关系，并将更好地了解气候变化在建立最早的哺乳动物主导的生态系统中所起的作用。该项目将通过生成详细的气候记录来测试哺乳动物在这一关键时间段内是否对气候变化做出反应，包括通过对化石叶子的叶缘和叶面积分析以及对古代土壤的研究来估计年平均温度和降水量。这项研究还将重建古代生物群落目前在这个时候，这些生物群落内的栖息地使用稳定的碳同位素从哺乳动物的牙齿，和沉积环境的类型使用沉积学。这些不同的替代记录将进行比较，以测试哺乳动物区系记录与古新世早期气候变化或生物群落变化之间的相关性。这项研究的结果应该有助于开发更准确的模型来预测气候变化的后果。 该项目将为高中，本科和研究生提供教育和研究机会，包括来自新墨西哥州的美洲原住民学生，这些学生在科学方面的代表性大大不足，以及来自内布拉斯加州的6- 8年级学生。这项研究的结果也将被纳入新墨西哥州自然历史和科学博物馆的一个永久性博物馆展览。

Collaborative Research: Testing the link between climate and mammalianfaunal dynamics in the early Paleocene record of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico byThomas Williamson, New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation EAR-1325544Ross Secord, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, EAR-1325612Daniel Peppe, Baylor University, EAR-1325552ABSTRACTThe Nacimiento Formation of northwestern New Mexico contains the most complete, diverse, and longest record of early Paleocene mammal evolution known anywhere in the world, spanning from about 65.8 to 62.2 million years ago. The early Paleocene is of particular importance for understanding the evolution of modern ecosystems because it includes the first mammal-dominated ecosystems that appeared immediately following the end-Cretaceous extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. This was a time when the world was warmer than now and the climate appears to have been unstable. This study will test for a relationship between climate and mammalian faunal change in the early Paleocene, and will provide a better understanding of the role climate change played in the establishment of the earliest mammal-dominated ecosystems. This project will test if mammals responded to climate change during this critical interval of time by generating a detailed climate record, including estimates of mean annual temperature and precipitation from leaf-margin and leaf-area analyses of fossil leaves, and from the study of ancient soils. This study will also reconstruct the ancient biomes present at this time and the habitats within those biomes using stable carbon isotopes from mammal teeth, and the types of depositional environments present using sedimentology. These various proxy records will be compared to test for correlations between the mammalian faunal record and changing climate or changing biomes in the early Paleocene. Results from this study should be useful for developing more accurate models for predicting the consequences of climate change. This project will provide educational and research opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, including Native American students from New Mexico, which are greatly underrepresented in the sciences, and "at risk" 6-8th grade students from Nebraska. The results of this research will also be incorporated into a permanent museum exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.