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Re: non-extinction



I wrote: 
>  For 10 million years after the K/T boundary, there were NO large
>carnivoran-type mammals.  Or at least none have been found yet.  It looks like
>things got out of whack for the Mammalia too.  Malcom McKenna wrote a good
>summary of the radiation of mammals in _Natural History_ last? year.
>It was either in 1994 or 1993.  I recall that Novacek had something in that
>article also.  The articles were meant for the general public.

  I dug up some references for this:  There are three really good
articles on fossil Mammalia and its radiation prior to, and after the K/T
boundary.
  Dr. Michael J. Novacek wrote a good summary of research (up to 1994) on the
small mammals of the Mesozoic (those pint-sized compatriates of the
Dinosauria).  Check out this tongue-twister for a systematic name:
"za-lam'-da-lest-EEZ". 
  Dr. Malcolm McKenna wrote another fossil small-mammal summary article.

  Dr. Richard H. Tedford wrote an excellent overview on the status of our
knowledge of the radiation of the carnivoran mammals (my personal subject of
interest, I must confess).  Want to know what distinguishes the
Carnivora from the other carnivorous mammals?  Read Tedford's article and
find out! 

All three articles appear in _Natural History_, April, 1994.
_Natural History_ is a magazine, rather than a science journal, and
therefore is found in most public libraries.  The 3 articles in question are
written for everyone, and are an easy read. 

For the more adventuresome souls who want to know more about the
multituberculates and other small dinosaur snacks of the Mesozoic, get your
hands on a copy of:
     _Mesozoic Mammals: The First Two-Thirds of Mammalian History_,
           Jason A. Lillegraven, Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, and William
           Clemens, eds., University of California Press, Berkeley, 311 p.,
           year 1979.
           ISBN 0-520-03582-8
           Although dated, the book still gives a good overview.
           Also, be warned that compared to _Natural History_ magazine,
           _Mesozoic Mammals_ is technical.