The San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico has revealed important new information. Dating of rock strata spanning the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary indicates that the San Juan record is nearly complete – making it one of the few such places in the world where terrestrial vertebrate faunas that closely bracket the K-Pg boundary can be examined in detail. The San Juan Basin also contains one of the best records of mammal evolution during the early Paleocene, a time spanning the first few million years following the mass extinction (62 – 66 million years ago) that brought about the end of the Age of Reptiles. During this time, mammals become the dominant land animal. New discoveries of early Paleocene fossils and multidisciplinary research focused on the New Mexico record has led to new understanding on life in New Mexico during the Dawn of the Age of Mammals.

Dr. Thomas Williamson received a B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Massachusetts (1986) and M.S. in Geology (1989) and Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences (1993) from the University of New Mexico. He has been a Curator of Paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science since 1994 and has been conducting research on Cretaceous and Paleogene terrestrial vertebrate communities of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico for 30 years. His research over the past 15 years has been supported by several grants from the National Science Foundation and the Bureau of Land Management.

Held at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 • (505) 841-2800 Visit: www.nmnaturalhistory.org

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