Early Career: Acquisition of a White Light Confocal Microscope for Dental Microwear Texture Analysis of Ancient Mammalian Communities

1053839 Grawe DeSantis这笔赠款支持购买具有干涉测量能力的共焦成像显微镜以及相关的计算硬件和软件，以实现对哺乳动物化石牙齿的快速自动微磨损分析。这一能力与其他分析技术(例如，对骨磷灰石的稳定同位素分析)相结合，有望重建已灭绝的新生代食草动物、食肉动物和食肉动物的古食谱。具体研究将包括使用共焦显微镜对来自美国东南部和澳大利亚化石地区的新生代哺乳动物，特别是有袋类动物进行古生态研究。总部设在范德比尔特的PI计划与附近东田纳西州立大学的同事和学生进行学术合作，并通过多个研讨会和K-12教育模块进行外联工作。还将为研究生提供三年以上的部分支持。*

1053839 Grawe DeSantisThis grant supports the acquisition of a confocal imaging microscope with interferometric capabilities and associated computational hardware and software to permit rapid automated microwear analysis of fossil mammalian teeth. The capability offers the promise of reconstructing the paleodiets of extinct Cenozoic grazers, browsers and carnivores when coupled with other analysis techniques (e.g, stable isotopic analysis of bone apatite). Specific studies will include use of the confocal micropscope for paleoecological research on Cenozoic mammals, in particular marsupials, from fossil localities in the southeastern U.S. and Australia. The Vanderbilt based PI plans academic collaborations with colleagues and students at nearby Eastern Tennessee State University and outreach efforts through multiple workshops and K-12 educational modules. Partial support over three years for a graduate student will also be provided.***