Collaborative Research: An Exceptional Window into Late Triassic Terrestrial Ecosystems from the Western United States

合作研究：美国西部晚三叠世陆地生态系统的一个特殊窗口作者：Randall Irmis，邮编：1349560，犹他大学; Sterling Nesville，邮编：1349554，霍华德大学; Nathan Smith，邮编：1349654，弗吉尼亚理工大学; Alan Turner，邮编：1349667，纽约州立大学石溪分校晚三叠世（约2.35 - 2.01亿年前）记录了地球历史上最具活力的时期之一。这一时期是古环境和生物更替的关键时期，也是现代陆地生态系统的起源时期。海登采石场（HQ）代表了一个独特的机会，建立一个广泛的数百万年的生物古环境档案，从非海相地层。新墨西哥州北方上三叠统钦勒组的HQ和相关地点为了解陆生脊椎动物生态系统的演化（包括恐龙的崛起）提供了一个无与伦比的窗口。HQ的化石保存非常完好，包括至少12个主要的晚三叠世脊椎动物群，从超过15，000个收集的标本中取样。该项目有两个主要目标：1）建立北方新墨西哥州上三叠统地层的古环境和动物群变化的综合记录; 2）利用非凡的HQ脊椎动物组合来阐明早中生代初龙形爬行动物的进化历史。该项目是对恐龙崛起期间陆地生态系统中生物对古环境变化的反应进行的第一批综合研究之一。更广泛的影响：PI的发现被吸收到教育课程和古生物学幽灵牧场博物馆的新展览中，让来自里奥阿里巴县的2,000多名K-12学生接触科学（其中70%的居民属于传统上在科学中代表性不足的人口群体），包括通过对海登采石场本身的实地考察。迄今为止，来自9个不同机构的45名研究生和本科生参加了我们的幽灵牧场实地项目并接受了培训。该项目为至少四名研究生和六名本科生的实地考察和研究提供资金，包括支持地球科学中代表性不足的群体（例如，非裔美国人和妇女）。将通过学术和大众出版物以及媒体新闻稿（例如，http://www.nsf.gov/tawa).最后，该项目产生的数据将提供给国家科学基金会支持的可供检索的数据库，如MorphoBank（http：www.morphobank.org）和古生物学数据库（http：//paleodb.org/）。

Collaborative Research: An Exceptional Window into Late Triassic Terrestrial Ecosystems from the Western United StatesByRandall Irmis, EAR-1349560, University of UtahSterling Nesbitt, EAR-1349554, Howard UniversityNathan Smith, EAR-1349654, Virginia TechAlan Turner, EAR-1349667, SUNY StonybrookABSTRACT Intellectual Merit: The Late Triassic (~235-201 million years ago) records one of the most dynamic intervals of Earth history. A critical time of paleoenvironmental and biotic turnover, this interval witnessed the origin of modern terrestrial ecosystems. The Hayden Quarry (HQ) represents a unique opportunity to establish an extensive multi-million-year biotic-paleoenvironmental archive from nonmarine strata. HQ and associated localities in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of northern New Mexico provide an unparalleled window into the evolution of terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems, including the rise of dinosaurs. The extremely well-preserved fossils of HQ include at least 12 major groups of Late Triassic vertebrates sampled from over 15,000 collected specimens. This project has two major goals: 1) to establish an integrated record of paleoenvironmental and faunal change in Upper Triassic strata of northern New Mexico; and 2) utilize the extraordinary HQ vertebrate assemblage to elucidate the evolutionary history of early Mesozoic archosauromorph reptiles. This project represents one of the first integrated studies of biotic response to paleoenvironmental changes in a terrestrial ecosystem during the rise of dinosaurs. Broader Impacts: PIs discoveries are assimilated into the education curriculum and new exhibits at the Ghost Ranch Museum of Paleontology, exposing over 2,000 K-12 students from Rio Arriba County to science (where 70% of residents belong to population groups traditionally underrepresented in science), including through class site visits to the Hayden Quarry itself. To date, forty-five graduate and undergraduate students from nine different institutions have participated in and received training through our Ghost Ranch field project. This project provides funding for a minimum of four graduate students and six undergraduates in fieldwork and research, including support for underrepresented groups in the geosciences (e.g., African-Americans and women). Research will be disseminated through both scholarly and popular publications, as well as media press releases (e.g., http://www.nsf.gov/tawa). Finally, data generated by the project will be contributed to NSF-supported publically accessible databases such as MorphoBank (http://www.morphobank.org) and the Paleobiology Database (http://paleodb.org/).