Collaborative Research: Micro- and Macroscopic Eukaryotic Life and its Preservation within the Mesoproterozoic Lower Belt Supergroup

合作研究：微观和宏观真核生物及其在中元古代下部带超群中的保存真核生物的起源(几乎包括所有宏观生物、动物和植物的生命领域)仍然是所有进化史中最具挑战性和数据有限的问题之一。理解现代生物圈依赖于回答有关真核生物最早进化的基本问题：地球上最早的真核生物是何时以及如何出现、进化并随后辐射的？研究蒙大拿州西部下部带状超群15亿年前的阿普库尼和格雷森组保存完好的化石，将为理解真核生物的进化创造独特而重要的记录。这些岩石主要位于公共土地上，当地和国际上都大量利用这些土地进行娱乐和旅游。通过开发教育资源和与自然导游一起培训课程，该项目将致力于提高公众关于深部时间、生命进化和当地地质的科学素养，并将非传统的STEM教育者纳入公共科学活动的过程。从未对阿佩库尼组和格雷森组进行过全面的古生物学研究，但这些组包含世界第三古老的宏观化石--串珠石棉和螺旋藻。这项工作将结合岩石地层学、磁性地层学、碎屑锆石和独居石地质年代学分析，并结合其广泛的古生物数据，以了解这两个单元之间的时间、环境和古生物相关性。该项目还将测试关于化石组合组成和多样性的化石组合与古环境生态控制的相互竞争的假设，进行地层微化石采样和对已知的大型化石地层进行重新采样，并确定有问题的化石类型。将这些关键单元的古生物学、沉积学和地球化学联系起来，将能够对地球上最早的真核生物的环境、生态系统和多样化模式做出更广泛的推断。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。

Collaborative Research: Micro- and Macroscopic Eukaryotic Life and its Preservation within the Mesoproterozoic Lower Belt Supergroup The origin of eukaryotes (the domain of life that includes nearly all macroscopic organisms, animals, and plants) remains one of the most challenging and data-limited problems in all of evolution. Understanding the modern biosphere relies upon answering fundamental questions about the earliest evolution of eukaryotes: When and how did Earth’s earliest eukaryotes emerge, evolve, and subsequently radiate? Studying the excellently preserved fossils in the 1.5-billion-year-old Appekunny and Greyson Formations of the lower Belt Supergroup in western Montana will develop a unique and vital record for understanding eukaryotic evolution. The rocks are predominantly located on public lands, which are heavily utilized both locally and internationally for recreation and as tourist destinations. Through the development of educational resources and training sessions with natural tourism guides, this project will work to increase the public’s scientific literacy about deep time, the evolution of life, and local geology and integrate non-traditional STEM educators into the process of public science engagement.A comprehensive paleontological study has never been conducted on the Appekunny and Greyson Formations, but the formations contain the world’s third oldest macroscopic fossils—Horodyskia moniliformis and Grypania spiralis. This work will combine lithostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and detrital zircon and monazite geochronological analysis, in conjunction with a broad expansion of their paleobiological data, to understand the temporal, environmental and paleobiological correlations between these two units. This project will additionally test competing hypotheses regarding taphonomic versus paleoenvironmental-ecological controls on fossil assemblage composition and diversity, perform stratigraphic microfossil sampling and resampling known macrofossiliferous strata, and characterize problematic fossil-types. Connecting the paleobiology, sedimentology, and geochemistry of these key units will enable broader inferences regarding the environments, ecosystems, and diversification patterns of Earth’s earliest eukaryotes.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.