Mammalian dispersal at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.
A profound faunal reorganization occurred near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary, when several groups of mammals abruptly appeared on the Holarctic continents. To test the hypothesis that this event featured the dispersal of groups from Asia to North America and Europe, we used isotope stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and quantitative biochronology to constrain the relative age of important Asian faunas. The extinct family Hyaenodontidae appeared in Asia before it did so in North America, and the modern orders Primates, Artiodactyla, and Perissodactyla first appeared in Asia at or before the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. These results are consistent with Asia being a center for early mammalian origination.
Bowen
Gabriel J
GJ
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. gbowen@es.ucsc.edu
Clyde
William C
WC
Koch
Paul L
PL
Ting
Suyin
S
Alroy
John
J
Tsubamoto
Takehisa
T
Wang
Yuanqing
Y
Wang
Yuan
Y
D000818:Animals; D001188:Artiodactyla; D001208:Asia; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002681:China; D002980:Climate; D005060:Europe; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D008322:Mammals; D009656:North America; D010163:Paleontology; D010527:Perissodactyla; D010802:Phylogeny; D011323:Primates; D013995:Time
D002247:Carbon Isotopes