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

智力优势：在晚白垩世和早第三纪，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，在晚白垩世和古近纪，南极洲是多种多样的植物群的家园，然而，必须在大陆上存在的脊椎动物几乎仍然未知。为了填补这一空白，PI成立了南极古脊椎动物计划（AVPI），其目标是在南极洲从未进行过适当调查的地区以及已证实潜力的地区寻找和收集晚白垩纪-古近纪脊椎动物化石。两个字段季节建议的詹姆斯罗斯岛群的东北边缘的南极半岛。预期的发现包括软骨鱼类和硬骨鱼类鱼类、海洋爬行动物、鸟臀目和非鸟类兽脚亚目恐龙、鸟龙类鸟类以及兽目和非兽目哺乳动物。有待检验的假设包括：1）多个现存的鸟类和/或兽类哺乳动物谱系起源于白垩纪和生存的K-Pg边界灭绝事件; 2）？斯科舍门户？（3）晚白垩世南极洲的非鸟类恐龙与冈瓦纳大陆其他陆块的同时代类群关系密切，（4）晚白垩世冈瓦纳大陆南部的海洋爬行动物群与同时代但更偏北的组合不同; 5）南极鱼类多样性在K-Pg过渡期间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达发现，例如卡内基自然历史博物馆的恐龙时代展览和纽约大学环境科学研究所的外展计划。德克萨斯州奥斯汀此外，卡内基博物馆将启动一个以学生为导向的编程计划，将AVPI研究作为主要重点。这一系列活动将帮助大约2,000名爱丁堡地区的本科生探索深时发现与关键现代问题的相关性。AVPI将为八名本科生和三名研究生提供研究机会，其中几名将在南极洲接受实地培训。化石将被纳入卡内基博物馆的收藏，并通过德克萨斯大学NSF资助的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.