The Late Triassic Tetrapod Fauna of the Fleming Fjord Formation, East Greenland

该项目的目标是提供对了解晚三叠世脊椎动物区系演化至关重要的数据，其中包括哺乳动物的起源以及其他主要的四足类群(如恐龙、海龟、鳄鱼、翼龙)。尽管主要的起源发生在这段时间，但已知的晚三叠世四足动物家族中，近一半在早侏罗世灭绝。这种动物群更替的时间、分类和地理范围一直存在争议，主要是因为年代准确、含有化石的岩石序列很少见。晚三叠世弗莱明峡湾组与以前发现的晚三叠世动物群相比，提供了更大范围的地层和岩性暴露(代表湖泊、河流和空中环境)。现已知，弗莱明峡湾动物群包括大量的欧洲类群，包括原蜥脚类(Plateosaurus)和兽脚类恐龙、一只海龟(Proganochelys)、一只Aetosaurus ferratus(Aetosaurus Ferratus)、一只翼龙(Eudimorphdon)、斜纹龙(Gerrothorax)和头龙(cf.(乳齿龙)两栖动物，以及其他分类群(植龙、鲨鱼、肺鱼和半龙类)。弗莱明峡湾动物群可能是连接欧洲和北美大陆沉积物的关键生物地层纽带。已知最早的哺乳动物之一的证据在弗莱明峡湾组被发现。在侏罗纪早期之前，只有最少的哺乳动物进化记录被发现。晚三叠世哺乳动物的颅骨和颅后解剖结构知之甚少，导致目前的系统发育假说缺乏实质性证据。1991年季末，在弗莱明峡湾上游地层中发现了四个化石层位；这些采石场，加上最近发现的新勘探区的调查，极有可能产生更多的哺乳动物以及该动物群的其他组成部分。

This project's goal is to provide data critical to understanding vertebrate faunal evolution during the Late Triassic, which includes the origin of mammals as well as other major tetrapod groups (e.g., dinosaurs, turtles, crocodylomorphs, Pterosaurs). Although major originations took place during this time, almost half of known Late Triassic tetrapod families became extinct by the Early Jurassic. The temporal, taxonomic and geographic extent of this faunal turnover has been debated, principally because well-dated, fossiliferous rock sequences are rare. The Late Triassic Fleming Fjord Formation offers a greater range of stratigraphic and lithologic exposures (representing lacustrine, fluviatile and subaerial environments) than those in which Late Triassic faunas have previously been found. The Fleming Fjord fauna is now known to include a substantial representation of European taxa, including prosauropod (Plateosaurus) and theropod dinosaurs, a turtle (Proganochelys), an aetosaur (Aetosaurus ferratus), a pterosaur (Eudimorphodon), plagiosaurid (Gerrothorax) and capitosauroid (cf. Mastodonsaurus) amphibians, as well as other taxa (a phytosaur, sharks, lungfish, and semionotids). The Fleming Fjord fauna is potentially a key biostratigraphic link between continental sediments of Europe and North America. Evidence of one of the earliest known mammals has been found in the Fleming Fjord Formation. Only the scantiest record of mammalian evolution has been found prior to the Early Jurassic. The cranial and postcranial anatomy of Late Triassic mammals is little understood with the result that current phylogenetic hypotheses suffer from a lack of substantive evidence. At the end of the 1991 season four fossiliferous horizons were discovered in the upper Fleming Fjord Formation; these quarry sites, together with investigation of new, recently identified areas for prospecting, hold great promise for producing additional material of mammals as well as other constituents of this fauna.