Romer's gap is an apparent gap in the Paleozoictetrapodfossil record used in the study of evolutionary biology, which represent periods from which excavators have not yet found relevant fossils. It is named after American paleontologistAlfred Romer, who first recognised it in 1956.[2][3] Recent discoveries in Scotland are beginning to close this gap in palaeontological knowledge.[4][5]
^By 1955 (perhaps even earlier), Romer states that few good fossils of tetrapods have been recovered from early Carboniferous deposits. See: Romer, Alfred Sherwood (presented: November 11, 1955 ; published: June 28, 1956) "The early evolution of land vertebrates," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 100 (3) : 151-167; see especially page 166. Available on-line at: JSTOR.