Vertebrate Fossils of the Late Pliocene Pinecrest Beds: Taphonomy and Systematics

9218583 Emslie PI发掘了鸬鹚骨床，为研究与海洋地层学和地层学相关的鸟类死亡组合的形成提供了机会。PI现在将与一位无脊椎古生物学家（W. Allmon）和一位孢粉学家（F. Rich）合作，完成地貌学和古生物学分析。PI产生了一个假设的场景，即大规模死亡，然后是风暴来集中骨骼。保存完好的北美鸬鹚化石将有助于系统分类学研究和系统发育的修正。＊＊＊

9218583 Emslie PI has excavated cormorant bone beds, which present an opportunity to investigate formation of avian death assemblages in relation of marine stratigraphy and taphonomy. PI now will complete taphonomic and paleontologic analyses, cooperating with an invertebrate paleontologist (W. Allmon) and a palynologist (F. Rich). PI has generated a hypothetical scenario of mass deaths followed by storms to concentrate bones. Outstanding preservation will also allow systematics study and phylogenetic revision of fossil cormorants of North America. ***