K mammals

["Catherine Forster" <CFORSTER@mail.som.sunysb.edu>]

As Chris and Tom have correctly stated- the Madagascar expeditions were 
initiated  
by Dave Krause as a quest for mammals.  And that quest continues in ernest, 
regardless of the dinosaurs, crocs, birds, etc. that we also recover.  We have 
screenwashed tons of matrix, and crawled every site with our noses to the 
ground 
(and we dino-types have done our share of this work as well).  We spend the 
school year (when not in the field) picking through matrix in the lab, 
searching 
for mammal remains.  And as a note: the gondwanathere mammal named Lavanify (a 
tooth), recently published by Krause et al. in NATURE, was found while quarying 
the Majungatholus skull.  We, like most other field workers, are interested in 
the entire fauna, not just the dinosaurs. But unlike dinosaurs, beloved of the 
popular press, the other equally interesting animals tend to appear only in the 
scientific literature.  And it's a shame.
Cathy Forster