摘要
The late Professor Minchen Chow started his career in vertebrate paleontology with a team of scholars working to clarify the biostratigraphy and paleogeography of Paleocene-Eocene change in mammalian faunas. The Paleocene-Eocene transition is the time of first appearance of artiodactyls, perissodactyls, and primates (APP taxa) in the fossil record. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) is a global greenhouse warming event that had transient effects on the earth’s climate and biota, but also profound lasting effects on the biota. Much of what we know about mammals in relation to the CIE and PETM through high-resolution study of the exceptional stratigraphic record flanking Polecat Bench, in where Professor Chow worked early and where his ashes now lie.