Fram Formation

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The Fram Formation is a Late Devonian sequence of rock strata on Ellesmere Island that came into prominence in 2006 with the discovery in its rocks of examples of the transitional fossil, Tiktaalik, a sarcopterygian or lobe-finned fish showing many tetrapod characteristics. The Fram Formation is a Middle to Upper (Late) Devonian clastic wedge forming an extensive continental facies consisting of sediments derived from deposits laid down in braided stream systems that formed some 375 million years ago,^[1] at a time when the North American craton ("Laurentia") was straddling the equator.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Fossil pollen suggest the date in the early and middle Frasnian stage of the Devonian.

[edit] References

• Edward B. Daeschler, Neil H. Shubin and Farish A. Jenkins Jr, 2006. "A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan" Science, April 2006, pp 757ff (pdf file)