US-Mexico Cooperative Research: Global Paleobiogeographic Implications from a Regional Study

0003058费尔德曼美国-墨西哥奖将资助俄亥俄州肯特州立大学罗德尼·M·费尔德曼博士与墨西哥国立自治大学弗朗西斯科·J·维加博士合作的项目。研究人员的目标是研究墨西哥新生代的古地理历史，并考虑这段历史对十足类甲壳类化石(虾、蟹和龙虾)和软体动物的进化和地理分布的影响。在恰帕斯州和南下加利福尼亚州，要研究的区域位于南美洲和中美洲地区，该地区在第三纪期间既是海洋生物扩散的障碍，也是扩散的途径，因此是十足类古生物地理故事中的关键环节。这些生物的扩散路线最有可能穿过墨西哥和中美洲；然而，该地区的化石记录目前不足以检验这一假说。预计拟议的实地研究将有可能解决和描述十足类动物的扩散路线，将这些模式与软体动物的扩散模式进行比较，并为评估关于其他海洋生物群体扩散历史的一般陈述提供基础。

0003058FeldmannThis US-Mexico award will fund a collaborative project between Dr. Rodney M. Feldmann, Kent State University, Ohio, in collaboration with Dr. Francisco J. Vega, National Autonomous University of Mexico. The researchers aim to study the Cenozoic paleographic history of Mexico and to consider the implications of this history for the evolution and geographic dispersal of fossil decapod crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, and lobsters) and molluscs. The areas to be studied, in the states of Chiapas and Baja California Sur, lie within the southern and Central American region that served both as a barrier to, and an avenue for, dispersal of marine organisms during the Tertiary, and therefore represent a crucial link in the paleobiogeographic story of decapods. The dispersal routes of these organisms are most likely to have crossed Mexico and Central America; however, the fossil record from this region is currently not adequate to test this hypothesis. It is anticipated that the proposed field research will make it possible to resolve and describe the routes of dispersal of decapods, compare those patterns with the patterns of dispersal of molluscs, and provide a basis for evaluating general statements about dispersal histories of other groups of marine organisms.