DINOSAUR BIOGEOGRAPHY AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF FOSSIL RECORD BIAS

恐龙生物地理学和化石记录偏差的影响

• 批准号: 2390155
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2390155
• 关键词: DINOSAUR; BIOGEOGRAPHY; IMPLICATIONS; FOSSIL; RECORD

The Marginocephalia (i.e., the horned and dome-headed dinosaurs) represent a Late Cretaceous radiation of bipedal and quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaurs that were widespread throughout western North America and Asia and remarkable for their extensive craniofacial ornamentation. The richness of the marginocephalian fossil record which includes numerous multi-individual bonebeds, articulated skeletons and isolated macrofossil remains, is essential to the ongoing characterisation of the Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna of western North America. For example, marginocephalians are among the most abundant identifiable ornithischian taxa that constitute the dinosaur dominated macrofossil assemblages of the Dinosaur Park (76.9-74.4 Ma) and Horseshoe Canyon (73.1-67.95 Ma) formations of southern Alberta, Canada. The narrow stratigraphic distribution of the macrofossil remains of these taxa and the low contemporaneous diversity (<3 species) has prompted the recognition of discrete 'sub-formational' faunal assemblage zones. For studies focused on dinosaur evolution and palaeobiogeography, these patterns are key to understanding the selection pressures influencing the evolution of specific taxa in the wider dinosaur assemblage which are best approached in a phylogenetic context to provide the broadest understanding of the group. This study aims to test existing phylogenetic hypotheses associated with marginocephalian diversity and to utilise multiple phylogenetic-based biogeographic methods to identify areas where poor sampling of the fossil record biases our understanding of diversity and faunal turnover of these dinosaurs.

边缘头龙(即有角和圆顶的恐龙)代表了晚白垩世的两足和四足鸟臀目恐龙的辐射，这种恐龙广泛分布在北美西部和亚洲，以其广泛的头面部装饰而引人注目。丰富的边缘头骨化石记录，包括许多多个体骨床、关节骨骼和孤立的大型化石遗骸，对于目前正在进行的北美西部晚白垩世恐龙动物群的特征至关重要。例如，在加拿大阿尔伯塔省南部的恐龙公园(76.9-74.4 Ma)和马蹄峡谷(73.1-67.95 Ma)地层中，以恐龙为主的大型化石组合是最丰富的可识别鸟臀纲分类群之一。这些分类群大型化石遗迹的狭窄地层分布和较低的同期多样性(&lt；3种)促使人们认识到离散的“亚地层”动物群组合带。对于侧重于恐龙进化和古生物地理学的研究，这些模式是理解选择压力影响更广泛的恐龙组合中特定类群进化的关键，最好在系统发育的背景下进行探讨，以提供对该群体的最广泛了解。这项研究旨在测试现有的与边缘头类多样性相关的系统发育假说，并利用多种基于系统发育的生物地理学方法来识别化石记录采样不佳的地区，这些地区偏离了我们对这些恐龙的多样性和区系更替的理解。