MAMMALS FROM THE PALAEOGENE SOUND FORMATION ELLESMERE ISLAND, ARCTIC OF THE EUREKA CANADA by ROBERT M. WEST * and MARY R. DAWSON *" RgsuMg La formation Eureka Sound dans File Ellesmere, situ4e dans la zone arctique canadienne ~ approxi- mativement 79 ° de latitude Nor& a livr4 diverses faunes de mammif~res qui ont un cachet Eocene infErieur/: Eocene moyen. LIn premier examen du mat4riel a montr4 la presence de plusieurs ordres : PvOteutheria, D ermoptera, Rodentia, t~antodonta, carnivores et Perissodactyla. Associ4s aces mammi- f4res on a un ensemble de vert4brEs infErieurs comprenant de nombreux restes de poissons, sa]a- mandres, alligators, 1Ezards, serpents et diffErentes sortes de tortues et d'oiseaux. Ces ensembles constituent la premiere preuve pal4ontologique de la pr4sence de faunes terres~ Ires au PalEog4ne sous des latitudes 41ev4es dans la r4gion holarctique; eliles posent de nouveaux pro- blames ~ propos de la palEobiogEographie environ- nements de la zone arctique pendant l'Eoc~ne. ABSTRACT The Eureka Sound Formation on Ellesmere Island., Canadian High Arctic at about 79 ° north latitude, has yielded mammalian assemblages of early to middle Eocene aspect. Preliminary exami- nation has shown t~he presence of the orders Pro.t. eutheria, Dermoptera, Primates, Ro,denti& Panto- donta, carnivores, an'd Perissodactyia. Associated with these mammals are a variety of Iower verte- brates, incIuding numerous fish. salamander, alli- gator, several kinds of turtle, lizard, snake, and several kinds of birds. The assemblages provide the first paleontological evidence of high latitude Paleogene terrestrial faunas in the Holarctic, and raise new questions about Arctic environment during the Eocene. MOTS-CLI~S : FALINEVERTI~BR]~S, I~OC]~NE, BIOGEOGRAPHIE, FRANKLIN ILES ARCTIQIAESCANADA(ELLESMERE ISLAND). KEY WORDS: VERTEBRATE FAUNA, EOCENE, BIOGEOGRAPHY, FRANKLIN ARCTIC ISLANDS (ELLESMERE ISLAND). * Department of Geology, Milwaukee PubIic Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53.233, U.S A. '~* Section of Vertebrate Fossils, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, U.S.A. G4obios, MEm. special 1 p. 107-1'24, 8 fig., 1 ta'bl. Lyon, septembre 1977