SGER: Salvaging a Unique Early Eocene Biota from the Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi

始新世早期的密西西比子午线生物群，包括沉积在河口河道和沼泽中的植物、软体动物、鱼类、蛇类、鸟类和哺乳动物。所有产生这种独特的始新世早期生物群的地点都位于即将开发的私有土地上。这一提议将尽可能多地挽救该地区的古代生物群和相关的背景数据，以免它们因商业发展而永久地消失在科学面前。为期两周的现场工作将集中在筛洗大量化石沉积物上，以便对Tuscahoma和Bashi地层的脊椎动物进行取样。实验室的进一步分类将鉴定出有用的化石标本和碎片。

The early Eocene biota of Meridian, Mississippi, includes a diverse biota from plants, molluscs, fishes, snakes, birds, and mammals that were deposited in estuarine channels and swamps. All sites yielding this unique early Eocene biota occur on privately-owned lland that is scheduled for imminent development. This proposal will salvage as much of the ancient biota of this region and associated contextual data as is possible prior to its permanent loss to science because of commercial development. Two weeks of field work on site will concentrate on screen-washing large volumes of fossiliferous sediment, in order to sample the vertebrates of the Tuscahoma and Bashi formations. Further sorting in the laboratory will identify useful fossil specimens and fragments.