This axis will investigate the evolution and dynamics of terrestrial vertebrate faunas during critical periods in the History of Life on Earth, through the integration of palaeobiological, geophysical and geochemical information. It will unravel the palaeoenvironmental/extraterrestrial conditions and causes triggering the diversification, evolution and extinction of selected vertebrate clades. The effects of the physical environment on terrestrial tetrapod behavior (e.g. adaptations, selective migration flows of mammals, dinosaurs,..) will also be studied.
The following stratigraphic intervals will be investigated, in different regions of the World:
- the Cretaceous of Europe;
- the Paleocene of Europe and China;
- the Paleocene/Eocene Boundary of Europe;
- the Early Eocene of India and Central Africa;
- the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary of Europe.