U.S.-Poland Project Development: Research on Rare Horseshoe Crabs in a Jurassic (160-145 million years old) Fossil Deposit in Poland

该项目的目标是启动俄亥俄州肯特州立大学的Rodney M.Feldmann博士和华沙波兰科学院古生物学研究所的Blazej Blazejowski博士之间的美波合作。他们将共同研究最近在波兰中部Owadów-Brezizinki采石场的Kcynia组发现的100多个距今约1.6亿-1.45亿年的马蹄蟹化石样本。美国-波兰团队预计，他们的探索性田野和实验室研究将为马蹄蟹的进化和生态提供新的线索。马蹄蟹是一个有着非常悠久的地质历史的物种，但在化石记录中的代表性很低。除了少数例外，这种标本的丰富储量是极其罕见的。进入最近在波兰发现的地点提供了一个难得的机会，可以更多地了解古代马蹄蟹的进化和生态，以及这可能如何影响现代沿海环境。在波兰的Owadów-Brezizinki遗址，这些化石被作为完整的动物保存下来。一些标本被保存，关节附属物暴露在下面的身体表面。因此，波兰和美国的研究人员希望开始描述生长模式，研究蜕皮阶段，确定性别，并探索群体行为。初步的技术成果将探索马蹄形古生物学的几个领域，目的是测试今天的贻贝是否是真正的“活化石”。马蹄蟹是节肢动物中最耐人寻味和最古老的元素之一，不仅作为古人，而且在现代，它们因其有节奏的运动模式、光感受器、免疫系统组件、一般的生态意义和商业潜力而吸引了研究人员的兴趣。这一发展中的美国-波兰合作将吸引一名美国研究生从事经过充分测试的研究技术和实地实践。该团队的初步发现有望有助于解释导致显著保存的因素，并为后续合作研究确定方向，以增加我们对1.6亿-1.45亿年前马蹄蟹多样性的基本理解。研究结果将发表在经过评审的国际期刊上，并将新数据输入古生物学数据库。总之，这种国际探索、合作和教育努力的更广泛影响有望促进我们在古生物学方面的基础知识，并对未来的古生态、水动力学和角质层研究做出潜在贡献。

The goal of this project is to initiate a U.S.-Polish collaboration between Dr. Rodney M. Feldmann at Kent State University, Ohio, and Dr. Blazej Blazejowski, at the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Paleobiology, Warsaw. Together, they will examine the recent discovery of over 100 specimens of ~160-145 million year old horseshoe crab fossils from the Kcynia Formation in the Owadów-Brezizinki quarry located in central Poland. The U.S.-Polish team expects their exploratory field and laboratory research to shed new light on the evolution and ecology of horseshoe crabs, (limulines) a group that has had a very long geological history, but has been poorly represented in the fossil record. With a few exceptions, abundant deposits of such specimens are extremely rare. Access to the recently discovered locality in Poland presents an exceptional opportunity to learn more about ancient horseshoe crab evolution and ecology and how this might affect modern coastal environments. At the Owadów-Brezizinki site in Poland, the fossils are preserved as whole animals. Some specimens are preserved with articulated appendages exposed on underlying body surfaces. Therefore, the Polish and U.S. researchers expect to begin to characterize growth patterns, study molt stages, determine gender, and explore group behavior. Preliminary technical results will probe several areas of horseshoe paleobiology with the goal of testing whether today's limulines are truly "living fossils." Horseshoe crabs stand out as one of the most intriguing and ancient elements of arthropod fauna not only as ancients, but because in the modern era they have attracted interest of researchers due to their rhythmic patterns of locomotion, photoreceptors, immune system components, and general ecological significance and commercial potential.This developmental U.S.-Polish collaboration will engage a U.S. graduate student in well tested study techniques and field practices. The team's initial findings are expected to help explain the factors that led to remarkable preservation and define the direction for follow-on cooperative research to add to our basic understanding of the diversity of horseshoe crabs ~160-145 million years ago. Results will be published in reviewed, international journals and new data entered into the Paleobiology Database. Altogether, the broader impacts of this international exploratory, collaborative and educational effort are expected to advance our fundamental knowledge in paleontology, with potential contributions to future paleoecological, hydrodynamic, and cuticle research.