Collaborative Research: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Vertebrates from Antarctica: Implications for Paleobiogeography, Paleoenvironment, and Extinction in Polar Gondwana

学术价值：在白垩纪晚期和古近纪早期，南极洲在脊椎动物进化和古生物地理学中所扮演的角色在很大程度上是未知的。有证据表明，在晚白垩纪和古近纪期间，南极洲是多种植物群的家园，然而，在这块大陆上一定存在过的脊椎动物实际上仍然未知。为了填补这一空白，pi成立了南极脊椎动物古生物学倡议（AVPI），其目标是在南极洲从未进行过适当调查的地方以及已证实有潜力的地区寻找和收集晚白垩纪-古近纪脊椎动物化石。在南极半岛东北边缘的詹姆斯·罗斯岛群，提出了两个野外季节。预期的发现包括软骨鱼目和正鱼目鱼类、海洋爬行动物、鸟臀目和非鸟类兽脚亚目恐龙、鸟臀目鸟类、兽类和非兽类哺乳动物。需要验证的假设包括：1)多种现存的鸟类和/或兽类哺乳动物谱系起源于白垩纪，并在K-Pg边界灭绝事件中幸存下来；2) ？斯科舍门户?允许大陆脊椎动物在白垩纪晚期之前，一直到古新世晚期或始新世早期，在南极洲和南美洲之间扩散；3)来自南极洲的晚白垩世非鸟类恐龙与来自其他冈瓦纳大陆的同古类群关系密切；4)冈瓦纳南部白垩纪晚期海生爬行动物区系与同时期更偏北的组合有所不同；5) K-Pg过渡期间南极鱼类多样性的崩溃是由灾难性灭绝引发的。更广泛的影响：pi将通过各种渠道向观众传播发现，例如卡内基自然历史博物馆的恐龙时代展览和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校环境科学研究所的外展项目。此外，卡内基博物馆将启动一项以学生为导向的计划计划，将AVPI研究作为主要焦点。这一系列活动将帮助大约2000名匹兹堡地区的本科生探索深时间发现与关键现代问题的相关性。该计划将为8名本科生和3名研究生提供研究机会，其中几人将在南极洲接受实地训练。这些化石将被纳入卡内基博物馆的收藏，并通过美国国家科学基金会资助的德克萨斯大学数字形态学图书馆进行虚拟访问。

Intellectual Merit: The role that Antarctica has played in vertebrate evolution and paleobiogeography during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene is largely unknown. Evidence indicates that Antarctica was home to a diverse flora during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, yet the vertebrates that must have existed on the continent remain virtually unknown. To fill this gap, the PIs have formed the Antarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Initiative (AVPI), whose goal is to search for and collect Late Cretaceous-Paleogene vertebrate fossils in Antarctica at localities that have never been properly surveyed, as well as in areas of proven potential. Two field seasons are proposed for the James Ross Island Group on the northeastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Expected finds include chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fishes, marine reptiles, ornithischian and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, ornithurine birds, and therian and non-therian mammals. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1) multiple extant bird and/or therian mammal lineages originated during the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg boundary extinction event; 2) the ?Scotia Portal? permitted the dispersal of continental vertebrates between Antarctica and South America prior to the latest Cretaceous and through to the late Paleocene or early Eocene; 3) Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Antarctica are closely related to coeval taxa from other Gondwanan landmasses; 4) terminal Cretaceous marine reptile faunas from southern Gondwana differed from contemporaneous but more northerly assemblages; and 5) the collapse of Antarctic ichthyofaunal diversity during the K-Pg transition was triggered by a catastrophic extinction.Broader impacts: The PIs will communicate discoveries to audiences through a variety of channels, such as the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the outreach programs of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Carnegie Museum will launch a student-oriented programming initiative using AVPI research as a primary focus. This array of activities will help some 2,000 Pittsburgh-area undergraduates to explore the relevance of deep-time discoveries to critical modern issues. The AVPI will provide research opportunities for eight undergraduate and three graduate students, several of whom will receive field training in Antarctica. Fossils will be accessioned into the Carnegie Museum collection, and made accessible virtually through the NSF-funded Digital Morphology library at University of Texas.