COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Triassic-Jurassic Fossils and the Origins of the Crocodilian Skull

鳄鱼及其近亲在过去的2.5亿年间有一个特殊的化石记录，记录了它们许多专业化的起源。在这里，pi首次使用生物力学分析结合它们的进化关系研究，调查了鳄鱼独特的颌合系统的起源，该系统使鳄鱼拥有任何脊椎动物中最强的咬合力。pi还将研究头骨中空气空间的大小与三叠纪末期全球气温急剧上升和大气氧气减少之间的关系。该研究试图确定咬合力增加的特征的起源是否与颅骨中空气空间的增加有关，或者这两个现代鳄鱼的特征适应是否独立进化。鳄鱼是一种很有魅力的动物，很适合教育推广，这个项目将利用史密森尼国家自然历史博物馆的Q'rius学习中心和密苏里大学的恐龙内部项目作为平台，为公众科学素养和公众参与科学做出贡献。pi和他们的学生将参与公开演讲，并开发基于项目CT扫描打印的3D头骨的互动体验。与中国研究人员的合作将加强国际合作。

Crocodilians and their closest relatives have an exceptional fossil record from the last 250 million years, documenting the origins of their many specializations. Here the PIs investigate for the first time the origins of the unique jaw-closing system that allows crocodilians to have the strongest bite force of any vertebrate, using biomechanical analyses integrated with a study of their evolutionary relationships. The PIs will also study how the size of air spaces in the skull relates to a dramatic increase in global temperatures and decrease in atmospheric oxygen at the end of the Triassic Period. The study seeks to determine whether the origin of features increasing bite force were related to the increase in air spaces in the skull, or whether these two signature adaptations of modern crocodilians evolved independently. Crocodilians are charismatic animals that lend themselves well to educational outreach, and this project will utilize the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's Q'rius learning center and University of Missouri's Inside Dinosaurs program as platforms to contribute to public scientific literacy and public engagement with science. The PIs and their students will engage in public presentations and develop interactive experiences based on 3D skulls printed from project CT scans. Collaboration with researchers in China will strengthen international collaboration.