Plugging the preservational pipeline: an integrated approach to tracking taphonomic histories of Cambrian skeletal fossil assemblages

堵塞保存管道：追踪寒武纪骨骼化石组合埋藏历史的综合方法

• 批准号: 1917031
• 负责人: Sarah Jacquet
• 金额: $ 34.39万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1917031&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Plugging; preservational; pipeline; integrated; approach

Not all organisms have the same likelihood of being preserved in the fossil record. There are a variety of limiting factors (biological and/or physical) operating in the environment which can filter out more vulnerable forms prone to decomposition. Typically, only the hard skeletons of animals are preserved (i.e. bones, teeth, and shells), however does this mean that the skeletal record itself is reliable? To avoid biasing our view of the history of life on our planet this project will probe the skeletal record for leaks in the 'preservational pipeline'. This project targets perhaps the most important period of geological time known as the Cambrian Period (541-488 million years ago), during which animal life as we know it evolved and diversified. This project includes a multidisciplinary group of researchers who will sample Cambrian-aged rocks and small shelly fossils from the Ikara-Flinders Ranges of South Australia to address the following questions: What proportion of the skeletal fossil record is missing? What environmental conditions were required for the preservation of these shelly animals? And how reliable are these fossil datasets in preserving particular animal groups or for subdividing geological time? To address these questions the team will use a combination of field and lab-based sedimentological, geochemical, and fossil data, as well as advanced imaging techniques (micro-CT and 3D visualization software), to reconstruct past environments and assess the impact of preservation bias on these fossilized communities. This integrated approach has the potential to fundamentally change how paleontologists analyze and track bias in the fossil record. In addition, the project will include training for university undergraduate and graduate students with practical, technical, and soft skills relevant to fields of geology, paleontology, and 3D virtualization. Educational outputs will include online hosted media in the form of virtual fieldtrips to globally significant geological sites and trails in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges of South Australia, and their associated curricular materials. The virtual fieldtrips will be made with the assistance of a Google Trekker -a backpack mounted with a 360 degree camera- to make accessible this remote and extraordinary ancient landscape. Cambrian small shelly fossil (SSF) assemblages continue to shape our understanding of early metazoan evolution with respect to phylogenetic relationships, biotic innovations (i.e. biomineralization), and the rise of Phanerozoic-style ecosystems. However, to comprehend the biological fidelity of this skeletal record requires a holistic view of the processes controlling fossilization through time and space. The Cambrian successions of South Australia -host to one of the richest SSF assemblages in the world and spanning various depositional gradients- provide a unique setting in which to investigate the link between preservational mode and paleoenvironmental variations. This project will employ a deeply integrated approach combining sedimentological, geochemical, and fossil datasets in tandem with three-dimensional volume analysis and paleoecological analyses, in order to better understand sources of bias that might skew our perceptions of this early fossil record. With a comprehensive understanding of the variables controlling select preservational modes, we can better inform previous and future interpretations of the skeletal record, not just across the Cambrian, but the entire fossil record. As such, the complimentary data afforded by this research aims to 1) compare skeletal constituents represented by different preservational modes and quantify selective bias exerted by common fossil extraction procedures as well as biological factors (morphology, composition, and affinity); 2) analyze the physical and geochemical characteristics of ancient sediments from different depositional systems to reconstruct paleoenvironment, redox conditions, nutrient flux, and sources of replacive minerals; and 3) quantify and contrast faunal composition, preservational modes, and paleoenvironment to assess the reliability and application of SSFs for regional and global dating of contemporaneous rock successions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

并非所有生物都有同样的可能性被保存在化石记录中。环境中有各种限制因素（生物和/或物理），可以过滤掉更容易分解的脆弱形式。通常情况下，只有动物的硬骨骼被保存下来（即骨头，牙齿和贝壳），但这是否意味着骨骼记录本身是可靠的？为了避免我们对地球生命历史的偏见，这个项目将探索“国家管道”泄漏的骨骼记录。该项目的目标可能是最重要的地质时期，即寒武纪（5.41 - 4.88亿年前），在此期间，我们所知的动物生命进化和多样化。该项目包括一个多学科的研究小组，他们将从南澳的Ikara-Flinders山脉采集寒武纪时代的岩石和小贝壳化石样本，以解决以下问题：骨骼化石记录的丢失比例是多少？保存这些甲壳动物需要什么样的环境条件？这些化石数据集在保存特定动物群体或细分地质时代方面的可靠性如何？为了解决这些问题，该团队将结合实地和实验室沉积学、地球化学和化石数据，以及先进的成像技术（微型CT和3D可视化软件），重建过去的环境，并评估保护偏见对这些生物群落的影响。这种综合方法有可能从根本上改变古生物学家分析和跟踪化石记录中的偏见的方式。 此外，该项目还将为大学本科生和研究生提供与地质学、古生物学和3D虚拟化领域相关的实践、技术和软技能培训。教育产出将包括在线托管媒体，其形式是对南澳伊卡拉-弗林德斯山脉具有全球重要意义的地质遗址和小径进行虚拟实地考察，以及相关的课程材料。虚拟实地考察将在谷歌徒步旅行者的帮助下进行-一个装有360度摄像头的背包-以便访问这个偏远而非凡的古老景观。 寒武纪小壳化石（SSF）组合继续塑造我们对早期后生动物进化的理解，包括系统发育关系、生物创新（即生物矿化）和恐龙式生态系统的兴起。然而，要理解这种骨骼记录的生物保真度，需要对控制骨骼化的时间和空间过程有一个整体的看法。南澳寒武纪的继承-主机在世界上最丰富的SSF组合之一，跨越各种沉积梯度-提供了一个独特的设置，在其中调查的联系模式和古环境变化。该项目将采用一种深度整合的方法，将沉积学、地球化学和化石数据集与三维体积分析和古生态分析相结合，以便更好地了解可能扭曲我们对早期化石记录看法的偏见来源。通过全面了解控制选择性分解模式的变量，我们可以更好地为骨骼记录的先前和未来解释提供信息，不仅仅是整个寒武纪，而是整个化石记录。因此，本研究所提供的补充数据旨在：1）比较以不同模式表示的骨骼成分，并量化常见化石提取程序以及生物因素所产生的选择性偏差（形态、组成和亲和力）; 2）分析不同沉积体系古沉积物的物理和地球化学特征，重建古环境、氧化还原条件、营养盐通量该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Work in Progress—Designing Virtual Field Environments Closer to Home: Making a VFE of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

正在进行中的工作 - 设计离家较近的虚拟现场环境：制作岩桥纪念州立公园的 VFE

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: 2022 8th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN
• 作者: Speir, Laura E.;du Plessis, Rúan;Oprean, Danielle;Jacquet, Sarah M.
• 通讯作者: Jacquet, Sarah M.

BIOTIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CONULARIIDS AND EPIBIONTS FROM THE SILURIAN WAUKESHA BIOTA

• DOI: 10.2110/palo.2022.027
• 发表时间: 2022-11-01
• 期刊: PALAIOS
• 影响因子: 1.6
• 作者: Miller, April Arlene;Huntley, John Warren;Jacquet, Sarah Monique
• 通讯作者: Jacquet, Sarah Monique

X-ray tomographic microscopy of Eocene coprolites from Pipestone Springs Main Pocket, southwest Montana

蒙大拿州西南部 Pipestone Springs Main Pocket 始新世粪化石的 X 射线断层扫描显微镜

• DOI: 10.3389/feart.2023.1130107
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Frontiers in Earth Science
• 影响因子: 2.9
• 作者: Jacquet, Sarah M.;Webb, Jeremy-Louis;Huntley, John Warren;Selly, Tara;Schiffbauer, James D.
• 通讯作者: Schiffbauer, James D.