Collaborative Research: A New Vertebrate Fauna from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Utah: Ecological and Evolutionary Implications

来自犹他州晚白垩世(坎帕尼亚)的一个新的脊椎动物动物群：生态和进化影响PI：Scott D.Sampson，Kirk R.Johnson Co-Pis：Eric M.Roberts，Patrick M.O？Connor，Mark A.Loewen晚白垩世是海平面和温室气候上升的时期。浅海淹没了包括北美在内的许多大陆大陆。在大约2500万年的时间里，晚白垩世内海从北冰洋延伸到墨西哥湾，有效地将北美大陆分成了两块大陆。在西部陆地上，恐龙经历了戏剧性的多样化，可能达到了它们进化史的顶峰。该项目旨在继续和扩大凯帕罗维茨盆地项目，该项目旨在探索保存在犹他州南部大楼梯-埃斯卡兰特国家纪念碑的凯帕罗威斯盆地中保存的晚白垩世(约7500万年)生态系统。更具体地说，将针对两个地质单元--凯帕罗维斯组和瓦赫韦普组--将研究结果置于系统发育、地层、古环境和生物地理背景下。到目前为止，研究结果令人叹为观止，一个新的恐龙动物群突出了这一点，其中包括角龙(有角恐龙)、鸭嘴龙(鸭嘴龙)、甲龙(装甲恐龙)、厚头龙(穹顶恐龙)、下足鸟脚类(小足、两足类)、大型霸王龙类兽脚类(食肉恐龙)以及各种较小的身体类兽脚类动物。许多形式都是由特殊的材料表现出来的，包括大多数完整的头骨和骨骼，以及脚印和皮肤印记。然而，大多数脊椎动物(脊椎动物)物种目前仅从零碎的遗骸中获知，大片荒地仍未被开发，这表明我们才刚刚开始认识到这些单位的潜力。我们建议通过一个涵盖脊椎动物和无脊椎动物古生物学、古植物学和地质学的综合、多学科的项目来扩展早期的工作。该项目的主要目标是重建保存在Kaiparowits和Wahweap组中的晚白垩世陆地动物群，并将其与西部内陆盆地(WIB)南北的准同时代实例进行比较。植物多样性也将是一个主要的研究目标，试图更好地了解这些富含恐龙的生态系统的性质。犹他州Kaiparowits盆地上白垩纪地层中更多更完整化石的发现和严格的系统发育分析，以及它们在地质背景中的位置，将为了解北美白垩纪陆地生态系统的演化模式和节奏提供重要的新线索。特别是，我们将测试与物种进化周转和假定的南北生物地理区划有关的假设。通过继续努力，我们相信，特别是Kaiparowits组的脊椎动物群将成为晚白垩世最著名的例子之一，也是WIB南部记录最全面的动物群。与以往一样，该项目坚定地致力于为包括妇女和少数民族在内的研究生和本科生提供培训场所。同以往一样，该项目的成果将通过各种渠道向科学界和公众传播，包括原创出版物、媒体曝光、互联网、博物馆展览和讲座/研讨会。外展亮点包括计划在盐湖城投资1亿美元新建犹他州自然历史博物馆设施的永久展览，该设施将描绘凯帕罗威斯地层生态系统的详细重建，以传达自然系统的一般工作原理，并将这个白垩纪晚期的例子与现代栖息地进行比较。

0745495JohnsonA NEW VERTEBRATE FAUNA FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS (CAMPANIAN) OF UTAH: ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS PIs: Scott D. Sampson, Kirk R. Johnson Co-PIs: Eric M. Roberts, Patrick M. O?Connor, Mark A. Loewen The Late Cretaceous was a period of elevated sea levels and hothouse climates. Shallow seas flooded many continental landmasses, including North America. For about 25 million years, the Late Cretaceous Interior Seaway extended from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, effectively dividing the North American continent into two landmasses. On the western landmass, sandwiched between the seaway to the east and rising mountains to the west, dinosaurs underwent dramatic diversification, achieving perhaps the acme of their evolutionary history. This project seeks to continue and expand the Kaiparowits Basin Project, designed to explore Late Cretaceous (approximately 75 million year old) ecosystems preserved in the Kaiparowits Basin, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. More specifically, two geologic units will be targeted?the Kaiparowits and Wahweap formations?with findings placed into phylogenetic, stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and biogeographic context. Results to date have been spectacular, highlighted by a new dinosaur fauna that includes ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs), hadrosaurs (duckbill dinosaurs), ankylosaurs (armored dinosaurs), pachycephalosaurs (dome-headed dinosaurs) hypsilophodont ornithopods (small-boded, bipedal forms), large-boded tyrannosaur theropods (carnivorous dinosaurs), and a variety of smaller-bodied theropods. Many forms are represented by exceptional materials, including mostly complete skulls and skeletons, as well as footprints and skin impressions. Yet the majority of vertebrate (back-boned) species are presently known only from fragmentary remains, and vast expanses of badlands remain unexplored, suggesting that we have only begun to realize the potential of these units. We propose to expand upon earlier efforts through an integrative, multi-disciplinary project that encompasses vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology, paleobotany, and geology. The principle project goal is to reconstruct the Late Cretaceous terrestrial faunas preserved within the Kaiparowits and Wahweap formations, and to compare these with penecontemporaneous examples north and south within the Western Interior Basin (WIB). Plant diversity will also be a major target of study, in an attempt to better understand the nature of these dinosaur-rich ecosystems. The discovery and rigorous phylogenetic analysis of additional and more complete fossils from Upper Cretaceous horizons in the Kaiparowits Basin of Utah, and their placement into geological context, will shed significant new light on the mode and tempo of evolution within terrestrial ecosystems in Cretaceous North America. In particular, we will test hypotheses relating to evolutionary turnover and putative north-south biogeographic zonation of species. With continued work, we are confident that the vertebrate fauna from the Kaiparowits Formation in particular will become one of the best known examples of Late Cretaceous age, and the most comprehensively documented fauna from the southern portion of the WIB. As in the past, this project is firmly committed to providing a training ground for graduate and undergraduate students, including women and minorities. Also as in the past, results of this project will be disseminated to both the scientific community and the general public through a variety of outlets, including original publication, media exposure, the internet, museum displays, and lectures/seminars. Outreach highlights include permanent exhibits planned for a new, $100 million Utah Museum of Natural History facility in Salt Lake City, which will portray a detailed reconstruction of the Kaiparowits Formation ecosystem in order to convey the workings of natural systems generally, and to compare this Late Cretaceous example with modern habitats.