RUI: Morphological and Systematic Analysis of Bipedal Dinosaur Footprints from Texas: Experimental and Field Studies

恐龙足迹代表着一种独特而重要的资源 用于解释功能形态学和 行为 詹姆斯·法洛博士提出了一种新的实验方法 到解读恐龙足迹 他提议录像， 分析不会飞的平胸鸟是如何在 各种各样的沉积底层。 沿着本科生 研究合作者，首席研究员将分析 基质性质和年龄的影响和解剖 几种鸟类的足迹 恐龙轨道 在得克萨斯州的白垩纪时代，然后将研究，使用 实验结果来解释的变异性之间发现 化石脚印 拟议的研究具有超越研究的影响， 恐龙轨道本身。 这个创新的实验 这种方法将使古生物学家能够更准确地 重建身份，丰度和年龄分布 共享一个古老栖息地的恐龙 该项目将 为恐龙的生物力学和步态提供了新的见解， 以及他们的社会结构和行为。 法洛博士 将使用最新的计算机辅助技术 脚印的形状分析，和他的本科生 将在他的指导下获得重要的研究经验。

Dinosaur trackways represent a unique and important resource for interpreting functional morphology and the evolution of behavior. Dr. James Farlow proposes a new experimental approach to interpreting dinosaur trackways. He proposes to videotape and analyze how flightless ratite birds leave their footprints in a variety of sedimentary substrata. Along with undergraduate research collaborators, the Principal Investigator will analyze the effects of substrate character and the age and anatomy of several bird species on the resulting tracks. Dinosaur trackways of Cretaceous age in Texas will then be studied, using the experimental findings to interpret the variability found among the fossil footprints. The proposed research has implications beyond the study of dinosaur trackways themselves. This innovative experimental approach will allow paleontologists to more accurately reconstruct the identities, abundances and age distributions of dinosaurs that shared an ancient habitat. The project will provide new insight into the biomechanics and gait of dinosaurs, and into their social structure and behavior as well. Dr. Farlow will be using the most current techniques for computer-aided shape analysis of the footprints, and his undergraduate students will gain important research experience under his supervision.