Summary
Sedimentary rocks in southeastern Utah are key to understanding dramatic climate change that occurred 304-280 million years ago during the transition from the Carboniferous to Permian periods (C–P). Cutler Group rocks have been geologically mapped for over 150 years, but their unique fossil assemblages—including charismatic sail-backed mammal ancestors (Dimetrodon) and the first large-bodied vertebrate herbivores (diadectids)—have only recently begun to be placed into a global context. This project will illuminate the fundamental climate processes that influenced terrestrial ecology in the wes
