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

真核生物（包括几乎所有宏观生物、动物和植物的生命领域）的起源仍然是所有进化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？研究蒙大拿西部下带超群中保存完好的15亿年前的Appekunny组和Greyson组化石，将为理解真核生物的进化提供独特而重要的记录。这些岩石主要位于公共土地上，这些土地在当地和国际上被大量用于娱乐和旅游目的地。通过开发教育资源和自然旅游导游的培训课程，该项目将致力于提高公众对深层时间、生命进化和当地地质的科学素养，并将非传统的STEM教育工作者融入公众科学参与的过程。对阿普昆尼和格雷森地层从未进行过全面的古生物学研究，但这些地层中包含了世界上第三古老的肉眼化石——moniliformis horodyskia和Grypania spiralis。这项工作将结合岩石地层学、磁地层学、碎屑锆石和独居石的年代学分析，结合广泛扩展的古生物学数据，了解这两个单元之间的时间、环境和古生物学相关性。该项目还将测试关于地层学和古环境生态学对化石组合组成和多样性控制的相互竞争的假设，对已知的大化石地层进行地层微化石采样和重采样，并对有问题的化石类型进行表征。将这些关键单元的古生物学、沉积学和地球化学联系起来，可以对地球最早的真核生物的环境、生态系统和多样化模式进行更广泛的推断。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.