Vertebrate Paleontology: Catskill Project prospecting for fossils at Red Hill

The ongoing Catskill project has focused on the Late Devonian-age Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania. The work has provided a uniquely comprehensive glimpse of Late Devonian non-marine (freshwater) ecosystems.

From the ancient stream deposits of the Catskill Formation we have discovered fossils of all major classes of vertebrate coexisting with fossil plants, plant spores, and invertebrates. We've discovered and described two new taxa of Late Devonian limbed vertebrates (tetrapods) from a single site (Red Hill), suggesting that primitive tetrapods were diverse and widely distributed in non-marine environments by the Famennian Stage (367-363MYA) of the Late Devonian. Research from the Catskill Project is presented at the Devonian Times web site.

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