Key Earth Science Links
Paleogene (Tertiary) Period—Eocene Life
Walking with Prehistoric Beasts-BBC. Wikipedia. Short summaries of the BBC-Discovery video series episodes. The “New Dawn” episode concerns the mid-Eocene Geiseltal and Messel shale fauna of Germany with links to descriptions of the creatures shown in the video. The main theme of this episode is the adaptive radiation of mammals following the K-T extinction.
An annotated taxonomic list of the Middle Eocene (MP11) vertebrata of Messel. Morlo, M., Schall, S., Mayr, G., and Seiffert, C., Cour. Forsch. Inst. Senkenberg (2004). Technical paper listing the fossils found at the Messel World Heritage Fossil Site with references.
Fossil Butte National Monument. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Summary of the geology and fossils from this Eocene site in Wyoming, which was a large lake from which abundant fossil fish, plants, insects, birds, and crocodiles have been found. Provides general geology information, description of fossils, photographs, and educational ideas.
Uintatherium robustum. National Academy of Sciences. Short description of the original finding of Uintatherium bones, with pictures of the fossils, and links to reconstructions of this large, knobby-headed Eocene herbivore.
Eocene. Paleomap Project. Map of the world 50.2 million years ago.