ROA: Systematics of Late Cretaceous Therian Mammals, Southern Utah

哺乳动物早在大约2亿年前的中生代就出现了，直到大约6000万年前的白垩纪末期，它们的多样性一直很低。对中生代哺乳动物化石记录的研究一直集中在某些地区，而对其他有中生代沉积前景的地区的研究仍然知之甚少。Richard Cifelli博士恢复并研究了犹他州南部的白垩纪哺乳动物，这是一个以前不知道哺乳动物化石的地区。他的努力已经收集了大量的微型脊椎动物化石，并建立了一个微型计算机数据库。Cifelli博士建议完成该地区的实地收集，并整理和描述该地区的哺乳动物化石。这一研究项目将极大地扩展我们对哺乳动物多样性和进化的理解，直到它们在中生代末期迅速多样化。物种的收集、数据库和描述将为未来的功能、进化和生物地理学研究提供基础，这些学科将引起各种各样的古生物学家和进化生物学家的兴趣。

Mammals arose early in the Mesozoic Era, roughly 200 million years ago, and remained at low diversity until near the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 60 million years ago. Study of the fossil record of Mesozoic mammals has been concentrated in certain regions, and remains poorly known from other areas with promising Mesozoic deposits. Dr. Richard Cifelli has recovered and studied Cretaceous mammals of southern Utah, a region from which fossil mammals were not previously known. His efforts have produced sizeable collections of microvertebrate fossils, and a microcomputer database of the collections. Dr. Cifelli proposes to complete field collections from this area and curate and describe the fossil mammals from the region. This research project will expand significantly our understanding of mammalian diversity and evolution prior to their rapid diversification at the close of the Mesozoic Era. The collections, database, and descriptions of species will provide the foundation for future studies of function, evolution, and biogeography, subjects that will be of interest to a wide variety of paleontologists and evolutionary biologists.