Excavation and Survey of Paleocene and Eocene Faunas of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming

早第三纪是哺乳动物进化辐射的关键时期，美国西部对这一时期有着异常丰富的化石记录。首席研究员Krishtalka和Stucky建议继续他们对怀俄明州Wind River盆地这个时代的脊椎动物化石的非常成功的挖掘和研究。除了挖掘和研究这些重要的化石外，他们还得到了NASA的研究支持，用于他们工作的地质方面，以及用于遥感研究的计算机设备、软件和培训。来自卫星和机载传感器的图像为他们提供了该地区地层的前所未有的视角。这项新技术使岩石类型之间有了更精细的区分，这可能与古代栖息地类型之间的动物群差异有关。风河流域项目已经产生了以前鲜为人知的群体的完整颅骨和颅后遗骸，拟议的项目有可能极大地增加我们对早期哺乳动物历史的了解。将遥感技术应用于系统古生物学的首次尝试将开辟新的方法学领域，并将为生物学研究开辟新的领域。

The early Tertiary Period was a critical time in the evolutionary radiation of mammals, and the American West has an extraordinarily rich fossil record of this time interval. Principal Investigators Krishtalka and Stucky propose to continue their highly successful excavations and study of fossil vertebrates of this age from the Wind River Basin in Wyoming. In addition to excavating and studying these important fossils, they have received research support from NASA for the geological aspects of their work, and for computer equipment, software and training for remote sensing research. Images from satellite- and aircraft-borne sensors have provided them with an unprecedented view of the region's stratigraphy. This new technology has allowed finer distinctions between rock-types, which can then be related to faunal differences between ancient habitat types. The Wind River Basin project has already produced complete cranial and post-cranial remains of previously poorly-known groups, and the proposed project has the potential to increase greatly our understanding of early mammalian history. This first attempt to use remote sensing technology in systematic paleontology will break new methodological ground, and will open new areas for biological research.