Mass extinctions are major crises in Earth’s history, wiping out groups of plants and animals and
allow new ones to flourish. The mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago
appears to have created opportunities for groups like birds and mammals.

Major gaps in the fossil record obscure impacts on fishes, which represent half of all living backboned animals.

First is the rarity of paleontological sites from the paleotropics, areas located near the equator in
the past. This is a critical region because today’s tropics host the greatest diversity of fishes and
other marine species. Second is the meagre fossil record of fishes from the first 10 million years
after the extinction. This sparse record that means even the most basic questions—including
whether evolutionary recovery was sudden or gradual—remain unanswered. Our team has
discovered fossil sites for rich assemblages of marine fishes that lived only a few degrees north
of the equator and only a few million years after the extinction. Our excavations in what is today
the barren Eastern Desert will help paint a picture of aquatic communities during a key period for
life on Earth, document the recovery of today’s largest group of backboned animals, and help to
explore responses to shifting climates. This project is in collaboration with University of
Michigan, USA and KU Leuven, Belgium.