Catalyzing New International Collaborations:Decapod Crustaceans in a Triassic Lagerstatten in China

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This award supports a planning visit to the Chengdu Institute of Geology and Marine Resources in Chendu, China, by Professors Rodney Feldman and Carrie Schweitzer of Kent State. The purpose of the trip is to develop a collaborative research project on the early evolution and radiation of decapods, specifically Crustacea, and the implications for the early history of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. An extensive assemblage of well preserved fossils has recently been discovered in Luoping, Yunnan Province, and access to the specimens presents an opportunity to expand greatly the understanding of anthropod recovery following the end-Permian extinction. This planning visit aims to establish an international collaboration in both research and education based on the large repository of well preserved fossils in Chengdu. Few specimens of decapods in China have been described so the proposed study can add considerably to the knowledge base of marine evolution in the early Mesozoic period. In promoting the research collaboration among the participants, this planning visit will establish the basis for a full-scale proposal for research in China. That subsequent research project promises to engage undergraduate and graduate students in the field work.