Award Abstract #0106477
Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from Madagascar: Implications for Gondwanan Biogeography

NSF Org:	EAR Division of Earth Sciences
Initial Amendment Date:	September 12, 2001
Latest Amendment Date:	June 17, 2003
Award Number:	0106477
Award Instrument:	Continuing grant
Program Manager:	H. Richard Lane EAR Division of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2001
Expires:	April 30, 2005 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$280177
Investigator(s):	David Krause David.Krause@sunysb.edu (Principal Investigator) Gregory Buckley (Co-Principal Investigator) Scott Sampson (Co-Principal Investigator) Raymond Rogers (Co-Principal Investigator) Catherine Forster (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	SUNY at Stony Brook WEST 5510 FRK MEL LIB STONY BROOK, NY 11794 631/632-9949
NSF Program(s):	AFRICA, NEAR EAST, & SO ASIA, INSTRUMENTATION & FACILITIES, GEOLOGY & PALEONTOLOGY
Field Application(s):	0000099 Other Applications NEC
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	5976, 1580, 1571

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

LATE CRETACEOUS VERTEBRATES FROM MADAGASCAR:

IMPLICATIONS FOR GONDWANAN BIOGEOGRAPHY

David W. Krause, Gregory A. Buckley, Catherine A. Forster, Raymond R. Rogers, and Scott D. Sampson

EAR-0106477

PIs previous NSF-funded research has established the Mahajanga Basin of NW Madagascar as having some of the most complete and spectacularly preserved specimens of Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the southern hemisphere. Their discoveries have quintupled the previously known species diversity of Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the island and now include specimens of fishes, frogs, turtles, snakes, crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals. More broadly, investigators involved in the Mahajanga Basin Project have elucidated the anatomy, paleobiology, and phylogenetic relationships of several vertebrate higher taxa, documented the Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy and sedimentology of the basin, provided key insights into the biogeographic origins of both the extinct and extant vertebrate faunas of the island, and shed significant new light on Gondwanan plate tectonics during the Mesozoic. Much remains to be done, however, in the vast expanses of paleontologically and geologically unexplored Cretaceous rocks of the Mahajanga Basin. It is clear that, even in the primary study area, the diversity of vertebrates remains inadequately sampled when compared to more thoroughly studied areas elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, despite the exquisite quality and completeness of the specimens of some taxa, the vast majority of species are represented by only fragmentary and isolated specimens. Finally, the unconsolidated nature of the Upper Cretaceous strata and the high annual rainfall ensures that the supply of new localities and new specimens is replenished on an annual basis. With continued work, the PIs are confident that the Mahajanga Basin vertebrate fauna will become one of the best sampled faunas of Cretaceous age and one of the primary standards against which other Gondwanan faunas are compared. The primary goals of the current proposal are to expand preliminary efforts through additional discoveries of fossil vertebrates in the still under-sampled primary field area; investigation of new field areas discovered in 1999; anatomical, functional, and phylogenetic analysis of specimens already discovered but still unstudied or only partly studied; additional elucidation of geologic context, including paleoenvironment and paleoclimate; and testing of biogeographic and plate tectonic hypotheses related to the breakup of Gondwana.

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