CAREER: Skull Evolution in Early Mammals and Advanced Cynodonts

9527892罗在一个既有研究又有教育的职业项目中，卡内基自然历史博物馆和匹兹堡大学的罗哲熙博士正在研究早期哺乳动物的新化石，主要来自中国，并使用计算机断层扫描(CT)方法获取内部解剖特征，用于比较系统发育分析。三维图形CT方法允许对化石进行非破坏性采样，否则可能是罕见的或无法进行详细研究。爬行动物通常被放置在犬齿动物中，被认为代表了第一批真正的哺乳动物进化而来的动物群体。在中国发现的新化石为这些动物提供了许多新的材料，其中一些带有颅骨遗骸，提供了鼻部、眼眶、蝶骨和耳朵区域的特征。哺乳动物进化过程中头骨结构的变化可能与进食、呼吸、嗅觉和听力的功能变化有关。通过中国和其他地方的同事接触到这些新的化石，PI处于绝佳的地位，可以获得新的、可能具有决定性的数据，这些数据与哺乳动物从爬行动物到犬齿动物的早期结构和功能进化有关。这项古生物学研究将在卡内基博物馆和匹兹堡大学注册的本科生的帮助下进行，在那里，PI将与生物学和地质学的同事合作，建立系统生物学和脊椎动物古生物学的新的教学和研究项目。学生们将有机会接触到卡内基博物馆令人印象深刻的藏品，以及相关的策展专业知识，同时保持大学宝贵的教学联系。

9527892 Luo In a CAREER project with both research and education components, Dr. Zhexi Luo of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Pittsburgh is studying new fossils of early mammals, mostly from China, and using Computer Tomography (CT) methods to acquire internal anatomical characters for comparative phylogenetic analyses. The three-dimensional graphical CT methods allow non-destructive sampling of fossils that might otherwise be rare or inaccessible to detailed study. Reptilian forms usually placed in the "cynodonts" are thought to represent animal groups from which the first true mammals evolved. New fossil findings in China have provided much new material of these animals, some with cranial remains that provide features of the nasal, orbital, sphenoidal, and ear regions. Changes in the structure of the skull attendant on the evolutionary transition to mammals likely relate to functional changes in feeding, respiration, olfaction, and hearing. With access to these new fossils through colleagues in China and elsewhere, the PI is in an excellent position to acquire new and potentially decisive data bearing on structural and functional changes in the early evolution of mammals from reptilian cynodonts. This paleontological research is to be conducted with the help of undergraduate students enrolled in programs both at Carnegie Museum and at University of Pittsburgh, where the PI will be working with colleagues in biology and geology to establish new teaching and research programs in systematic biology and vertebrate paleontology. Students will have access to the impressive collections at the Carnegie Museum, along with associated curatorial expertise, while retaining valuable pedagogical links at the University.