CAREER: A Late Triassic Origin for Modern Marine Predator-prey Dynamics

捕食是现代浅海生态系统生态结构的重要驱动力，但对过去海洋中现代捕食者-被捕食者动态的发展知之甚少。 许多最重要的现代海洋捕食者及其猎物动物出现在晚三叠世，大约228？2.02亿年前。这项研究将探讨在这个环境急剧变化的时期，捕食者-猎物相互作用在建立现代生态系统中的作用。由附近部落高中的本科生和学生组成的学生导师小组将开发研究项目，利用本研究中所学的技能解决环境问题。本研究的目的是量化的捕食者和猎物类群之间的拮抗关系，从三个不同的海洋地区在晚三叠世。将从内华达州、意大利和新西兰的区域收集一系列含磷的散装样品，以确定捕食者发生和丰度的地理模式，以及猎物群的丰度和形态模式数据。为了建立一个时间和空间分辨的动物群数据集，反映不断变化的生态关系，将使用多种年代地层学方法，将三个含化石的批量样品序列相互关联，并与公认的地质事件相关联。古生态位建模将被用来测试在这个捕食者-猎物系统的升级的概念，从而允许在生态功能和健康的内在和外在因素的作用进行评估。研究结果将通过公共数据库、出版物和学生研究人员在会议上的演讲提供。

Predation is an important driver of ecological structure in modern shallow marine ecosystems, but the development of modern predator-prey dynamics in past oceans are poorly understood. Many of the most important modern marine predators and their prey animals appeared during the Late Triassic, about 228 ? 202 million years ago. This research will examine the role of predator-prey interactions in building modern-style ecological systems during this time of dramatic environmental change. Student mentorship groups comprised of undergraduates and students from nearby tribal high schools will develop research projects to solve environmental problems using the skills learned as part of the present study. The goal of the present research is to quantify the antagonistic relationships between predator and prey taxa from three distinct marine regions during the Late Triassic. Series of fossiliferous bulk samples will be collected from regions in Nevada, Italy, and New Zealand to determine geographic patterns of predator occurrence and abundance, coupled with abundance and morphological pattern data for prey groups. In order to create a temporally- and spatially-resolved faunal dataset reflecting shifting ecological relationships, the three fossiliferous bulk sample sequences will be correlated to each other and to recognized geologic events using multiple chronostratigraphic methods. Paleoecological niche modeling will be used to test the concept of escalation in this predator-prey system, thus allowing for an evaluation of the role of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors in ecological function and health. Results will be made available through public databases, publications, and presentations at conferences by student researchers.