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

智力价值：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中所扮演的角色在很大程度上是未知的。有证据表明，南极洲在晚白垩世和古近纪是多样性植物区系的家园，但该大陆上肯定存在的脊椎动物实际上仍然未知。为了填补这一空白，私营部门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点以及已证实具有潜力的地区寻找和收集晚白垩世-古近纪脊椎动物化石。南极半岛东北边缘的詹姆斯罗斯岛群被提议两个野外季节。预计发现的动物包括软骨鱼类和骨鱼鱼类、海洋爬行动物、鸟腿类和非鸟类兽脚类恐龙、鸟类鸟以及兽类和非兽类哺乳动物。有待检验的假说包括：1)多种现存鸟类和/或西系哺乳动物起源于白垩纪，并在K-PG边界灭绝事件中幸存下来；2)Scotia门户？(3)南极洲晚白垩世的非鸟类恐龙与其他冈底瓦陆块的同时代类群密切相关；(4)南冈瓦纳州白垩纪末期的海洋爬行动物群不同于同时代的但更偏北的组合；5)南极鱼类动物多样性在K-PG过渡期间的崩溃是由灾难性的物种灭绝引发的。更深远的影响：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间展览和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀环境科学研究所的外联项目。此外，卡内基博物馆将推出一项面向学生的编程倡议，将AVPI研究作为主要重点。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层次发现与关键的现代问题的相关性。AVPI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培训。化石将被纳入卡内基博物馆的藏品，并通过德克萨斯大学NSF资助的数字形态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.