Re: Tertiary mammals in the Cretaceaous

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

 From: Joe Daniel <jdaniel@aristotle.net>
 > I have been reading Raup's book "The Nemesis Affair." ...
 >  But he mentions that several Tertiary type mammals have been 
 > found in the Cretaceous well before the meteorite impact.
 > Being pretty clueless about early mammals, can anybody give some
 > idea what he's talking about?

A number of groups of mammals that become significant in the early
Tertiary have their earliest known rperesentatives in the very latest
level of the Maastrichtian. A good example is the proto-primate
_Purgatorius_, one species of which is known from the last few
meters of the Hell Creek Formation. Another example is the earliest
"ungulate" - _Protungulatum_, which is likewise found in the uppermost
levels of the Lance and Hell Creek.

I suppose this may be what he was talking about.

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@ix.netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.