Interpreting Eocene Habitat Change from Adaptive Profiles – #365papers – 2017 – 58

#365papers for February 27, 2017

Townsend, Rasmussen, Murphey, Evanoff, 2010, Middle Eocene habitat shifts in the North American western interior: A case study: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 297, p. 144-158.

What’s it about?

The middle Eocene represents the warmest times in the Earth’s last 65 or so million years. Temperatures peaked, then began to drop. There is some debate over when the drop in temperatures actually began and how it affected mid-continental environments. This study looks at mammal fossils in the Rocky Mountains of North America to find out.

Why does it matter?

Understanding how climate change affects organisms is important. Here is a superb opportunity to get a closer look.

Why did I read this?

Truth is, it’s grant proposal season. Two of the four authors of this paper are collaborators with me on a grant that I’m working on involving research on the very sediments utilized in this paper. Yeah. Today’s paper is totally research. But it’s good.