Unravelling the last great Gondwanan mystery: the first land vertebrate fauna from the Tertiary of New Zealand

这个项目将极大地提高人们对澳大利亚和新西兰共享的生物多样性和跨塔斯曼岛扩散历史的认识。通过比较澳大利亚和新西兰的化石记录，将有可能评估一个大陆上进化的脊椎动物入侵另一个大陆的速度，以及此类事件的生物后果，并为预测和应对未来这类潜在破坏性事件提供重要数据。加深对过去气候变化对对岸动物反应的时间和强度的了解，将提高预测和管理威胁两地生态系统恢复能力的过程的能力。

This project will dramatically increase knowledge about Australia's and New Zealand's shared biodiversity and the history of trans-Tasman dispersals. By comparing Australian and New Zealand fossil records, it will be possible to assess the speed at which evolving vertebrates of one landmass invade another, as well as the biotic consequences of such events, and provide data important for predicting and responding to future potentially-damaging events of this kind. Developing understanding about the timing and intensity of antipodean faunal response to past climate change will improve ability to anticipate and manage processes that threaten ecosystem resilience in both lands.