Collaborative Research: Patagonian Fossil Floras, the Keys to the Origins, Biogeography, Biodiversity, and Survival of the Gondwanan Rainforest Biome

古往今来陆地上生命的化石记录主要来自北半球。然而，阿根廷南部巴塔哥尼亚异常丰富、相对鲜为人知的化石床提供了一个无与伦比的机会，让我们了解生命对地球另一端的大灭绝、板块构造和过去的气候变化是否有不同的反应。该项目将对巴塔哥尼亚约2000万年的动植物化石进行采样和分析，从白垩纪末期恐龙灭绝之前(6600万年前)到早期恢复期和始新世变暖时期。通过开创性的现场发现和最先进的实验室技术，这项研究旨在改变人们对南半球植物和环境的起源、巴塔哥尼亚的作用以及目前位于东南亚脆弱热带雨林地区的幸存活化石的遗产的理解。这项工作将在地球历史的关键时期为南半球产生最完整的陆地记录和精心策划的化石植物收集。它将产生一个新的、具有全球意义的参考点，用于研究生物化石实验室中的大规模灭绝、恢复和对气候变化的反应，对当今的保护和生态系统管理具有直接重要性。除了学术出版物和会议介绍外，还计划开展大量的教育、培训和外联活动。这些将包括展品、为公众参与化石遗址而开发的教育资源，以及一本三种语言的儿童书籍。该项目将利用巴塔哥尼亚一系列特殊化石地点的野外古生物学和地层学，从白垩纪晚期到始新世中期，以提高对巴塔哥尼亚独特的信息丰富的化石植物群的了解。大多数化石遗址位于丘布特及其邻近省份的拉科洛尼亚、勒菲潘、萨拉曼卡、佩纳斯科罗拉达斯和惠特雷拉组。这项研究将聚焦于五个广泛相关的问题，针对的是知识上的重大差距。(1)巴塔哥尼亚是白垩纪末期大规模灭绝的避难所吗？(2)最早的古新世植物群和昆虫动物群的组成、多样性和生物地理亲缘关系是什么？(3)始新世植物群和动物群是否包含现在存活于南美洲、亚洲、非洲和澳大拉西亚的谱系？(4)始新世植物群是否记录了南美洲最早的孤立阶段，表明冈德瓦南分类群的丧失和新大陆分类群的增加？(5)亨科湖早期始新世多产的地点代表了多少地质时代是什么过程形成了这些独特的沉积物，保存了世界上最多样化的化石生物群之一？

The fossil record of life on land through time predominantly comes from the Northern Hemisphere. However, the outstandingly rich, relatively little-known fossil beds of Patagonia, southern Argentina, provide an unrivaled opportunity to learn whether life responded differently to mass extinction, plate tectonics, and past climate change on the other side of the world. This project will intensively sample and analyze fossil plants and animals from Patagonia through about 20 million years, from just before the end-Cretaceous dinosaur extinction (66 million years ago), through the early recovery period and the Eocene warming interval. Through groundbreaking field discoveries and state-of-the-art lab techniques, this research aims to transform understanding of the origins of the Southern Hemispheres flora and environments, the role of Patagonia, and the legacy of surviving living fossils now located in vulnerable rainforest areas as far away as Southeast Asia. The work will generate the most complete terrestrial record and curated fossil-plant collection for the Southern Hemisphere through a critical interval of Earth history. It will produce a new, globally significant reference point for studying mass extinction, recovery, and response to climate change from a fossilized living laboratory, with direct importance for conservation and ecosystem management today. In addition to scholarly publications and meeting presentations, a large number of educational, training, and outreach activities are planned. These will include exhibits, educational resource development for public engagement with the fossil sites, and a trilingual childrens book. The project will use field paleontology and stratigraphy at a series of exceptional Patagonian fossil localities, dating from the latest Cretaceous to middle Eocene, to elevate understanding of Patagonia's uniquely informative fossil floras. Most of the fossil sites are located in the La Colonia, Lefipan, Salamanca, Penas Coloradas, and Huitrera formations of Chubut and neighboring provinces. The research will focus on five, broadly related questions targeting significant gaps in knowledge. (1) Was Patagonia a refuge from the end-Cretaceous mass extinction? (2) What are the composition, diversity, and biogeographic affinities of the earliest Paleocene floras and insect faunas? (3) Do the Eocene floras and faunas contain lineages that now survive in South America, Asia, and Africa, as well as Australasia? (4) Do the Eocene floras document the earliest phases of South American isolation by showing a loss of Gondwanan taxa and an increase in New World taxa through time? (5) How much geologic time does the prolific early Eocene site at Laguna del Hunco represent, and what processes formed these unique deposits that preserved one of the most diverse fossil biotas in the world?