COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Paleoenvironments and Patterns of Vertebrate Evolution in the Early Cretaceous of Texas

这一分析将检验古环境的作用 四足动物进化起源中的分布和适应 谱系和当地模式的动物更替的原因， 德州早白垩世 保存完好的脊椎动物群 从一个序列产生跨越多达15我包括不同的 鱼类，两栖动物，蜥蜴，恐龙和哺乳动物，许多 这是新的。 动物群存在于海洋夹层中， 科曼奇系列的陆地沉积物， 从开阔的海洋陆架到内陆半干旱洪泛平原。 丰度 脊椎动物类群通过部分将进行分析 定量地确定分类群与特定 环境及其变化模式。 将根据沉积背景评估古环境 脊椎动物的栖息地。 在现有样本的基础上 地层和古环境的多样性 脊椎动物记录将通过一项计划进一步发展， 在可行的情况下，通过筛洗和采石。 搜索 工作将集中在采样差的地层间隔， 得克萨斯州中部和西部更内陆的环境 和南方。

This analysis will test the roles of paleoenvironmental distribution and adaptation in the evolutionary origins of tetrapod lineages and the causes of local patterns of faunal turnover in the Texas Early Cretaceous. The well preserved vertebrate fauna being produced from a sequence spanning as much as 15 my includes diverse fishes, amphibians, lacertilians, dinosaurs, and mammals, many of which are new. Faunas are found in the intercalated marine and terrestrial sediments of the Comanche Series, in habitats ranging from open marine shelf to inland semi-arid floodplain. Abundances of vertebrate taxa through the section will be analyzed quantitatively to determine the relationships of taxa to specific environments and their patterns of change through the section. Paleoenvironments will be assessed based on the sedimentary context of vertebrate localities. Building upon samples already in hand the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental diversity of the vertebrate record will be further developed through a program of screen washing and through quarrying where feasible. Search efforts will focus on poorly sampled stratigraphic intervals in central Texas and on more inland environments preserved to the west and south.