Saving a Lost Ecosystem: Restoring and exploring the exceptionally preserved fossils of the Cleveland Shale (Late Devonian)

克利夫兰自然历史博物馆目前正在进行大规模改造项目，其中包括建造新的永久性展品和储存设施。博物馆的古生物学收藏品收藏了地球历史上一个独特时期的化石，当时，现在的俄亥俄州克利夫兰是一个热带海洋，支持着一个陌生的生态系统。在泥盆纪末期(约3.58亿年前)，当环境发生剧烈变化时，这里发现的许多独特的动植物都灭绝了。克利夫兰的化石记录让我们得以一窥过去剧烈环境变化的影响--这些信息对未来具有深远的影响。该博物馆拥有世界上最大的克利夫兰地区泥盆纪化石收藏；然而，由于储存条件不足，它们目前处于危险之中。博物馆的科学家认识到，现在是保存这份关于地球过去的宝贵记录的时候了。他们的目标是为这一收集建立一个稳定的环境，在它进一步退化之前记录它所包含的所有证据，并扩大访问范围，使更多的科学家能够使用这一非凡的资源。此外，拍摄和3D扫描化石将允许全球观众以新的和令人兴奋的方式与它们互动。泥盆纪以数百万年的剧变结束，以剧烈的环境变化、多次灭绝事件和大多数海洋生物的丧失为标志。这些灭绝对海洋中的生命和脊椎动物的进化产生了戏剧性的影响。现代脊椎动物的许多特征--包括颌骨、牙齿和腹鳍--最早出现在泥盆纪的鱼身上，这种鱼是在被称为克利夫兰页岩成员的地质构造中发现的。在这些当地克利夫兰沉积物中发现的许多物种在世界其他任何地方都没有发现。这些化石保存得非常完好，保留了软组织等特征，很少发现形态信息。然而，黄铁矿疾病目前正在威胁博物馆泥盆纪化石收藏品的保存。自然出现在克利夫兰页岩中的活性黄铁矿可以在潮湿的条件下氧化，产生硫化铁，这可能会破坏形态特征和整个样品。因此，博物馆的目标是将藏品转移到一个有新橱柜的气候控制空间，首次向全球聚合器发布脊椎动物古生物学数据集，制作并发布标本的3D表面扫描以保留有关形态的信息，并将这些记录用于教育推广，告诉公众地球已经并将继续发生多大变化。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is currently undergoing a large-scale transformation project, which includes the building of new permanent exhibits and storage facilities. The Museum’s paleontology collections house fossils from a unique time in Earth’s history, when what is now Cleveland, Ohio, was a tropical ocean that supported an unfamiliar ecosystem. Many of the distinctive plants and animals found here went extinct when the environment changed dramatically at the end of the Devonian Period (~358 million years ago). The fossil record in Cleveland provides a remarkable glimpse into the past impacts of drastic environmental change—information with far-reaching implications for the future. The Museum has the world’s largest collection of Cleveland-area Devonian fossils; however, they are currently at risk due to inadequate storage conditions. The Museum’s scientists recognize that now is the time to save this valuable record of Earth’s past. Their goal is to build a stable environment for this collection, document all the evidence it contains before it degrades further, and expand access to enable more scientists to use this extraordinary resource. Additionally, photographing and 3D-scanning the fossils will allow global audiences to interact with them in new and exciting ways.The Devonian Period ended in millions of years of upheaval marked by drastic environmental change, multiple extinction events, and the loss of the majority of marine life. These extinctions had dramatic impacts on life in the oceans and on vertebrate evolution. Numerous traits of modern vertebrates—including jaws, teeth, and pelvic fins—first appeared in the Devonian fish found in the geologic formation known as the Cleveland Shale Member. Many of the species uncovered in these local Cleveland deposits are not found anywhere else in the world. The fossils are exceptionally preserved, retaining features like soft tissues and rarely found morphological information. However, pyrite disease is currently threatening the preservation of the Museum’s Devonian fossil collection. Reactive pyrite that occurs naturally in the Cleveland Shale can oxidize in humid conditions, creating iron sulfide, which can destroy morphological features and entire specimens. Therefore, the Museum’s goal is to move the collection into a climate-controlled space with new cabinets, publish the vertebrate paleontology dataset to global aggregators for the first time, make and publish 3D surface scans of specimens to retain information about morphology, and use these records in educational outreach to teach the public about how much the Earth has changed and will continue to change.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.