Palaeobiology of non-avian theropod dinosaurs

非鸟类兽脚类恐龙的古生物学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-04715
• 负责人: Currie, Philip
• 金额: $ 6.41万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=648432
• 关键词: Palaeobiology; non; avian; theropod; dinosaurs

Of more than 800 skeletons excavated in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, the best specimen of a small theropod (Saurornitholestes) ever collected in Canada was found in 2014, and is presently under study. This program is integrated with similar studies in progress in other parts of western North America, and a picture is emerging of ecologically specific dinosaur communities in which individual taxa are rapidly evolving. Within Alberta, evolutionary changes in theropods can be tracked through a succession of different dinosaur faunas along the Red Deer River. Understanding evolutionary change locally is complicated, however, by the immigration of new forms from Asia, and I have been studying probable areas of origin of several theropods. My prime focus in Asia is the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, which is roughly contemporaneous with the Dinosaur Park Formation. The presence of any dinosaur family in either of the two regions predicts it will be found in the other region (as witnessed by the recent identification in Alberta of alvarezsaurids and microraptorines -- two Asian theropod dinosaur taxa). *** Specific examples of projects that I have underway with HQP include the description and phylogenetic analysis of dromaeosaurids (including Saurornitholestes) of North America and Asia. The description and phylogenetic analysis of oviraptorosaurs from Alberta and Mongolia is especially productive at this time, and is providing details of an intercontinental interchange of caenagnathid theropods.*** My long association with colleagues in China gave me many opportunities to work on closely-related theropods in China. This work is continuing with a new taxon of Chinese troodontid, which will give us greater familiarity with Troodon. An ornithomimid collected in Alberta in 2009 has feather impressions; two papers have been published on the feathers, and their richly preserved melanosomes are now being analyzed with SEM and geochemical techniques through collaborations with labs in Toronto and Lund (Sweden). Other initiatives in my lab include the analysis of stable isotopes using tooth enamel. Although used previously to determine trophic levels of extinct animals, the technology can now analyze much smaller samples, including enamel from the teeth of small theropods. A similar collaborative tooth project uses laser-ablation of isotopes in enamel to determine the degree of diagenetic alteration in teeth from Dinosaur Park, and to compare isotopic dating techniques with known radiometric dates as a control for isotopic studies in other regions. Another collaborative project started through my research involves the geochemical fingerprinting of bones from Mongolia as a mechanism to improve locality information on specimens that were either illegally poached or lack information on provenance. The success of my lab in recent years can be correlated directly with my belief in training HQP.*****

在艾伯塔省的恐龙省公园发掘的800多个骨骼中，有史以来在加拿大收集的一个小型兽人（Saurornitholestes）的最佳标本，目前正在加拿大，目前正在研究中。该计划与在北美西部其他地区进行的类似研究融合在一起，并且正在出现在生态特定的恐龙群落中，在这些恐龙群落中，各个分类群正在迅速发展。在艾伯塔省，可以通过沿红鹿河沿线的一系列不同的恐龙动物群来跟踪兽脚类动物的进化变化。但是，通过亚洲的新形式的移民，在当地了解进化变化是复杂的，我一直在研究几种兽脚类动物的可能起源领域。我在亚洲的主要重点是蒙古的尼梅格特组，与恐龙公园的形成大致相同。在两个地区中的任何一个中，任何恐龙家族的存在都可以在另一个地区找到（正如艾伯塔省最近在阿尔瓦雷斯龙和微疗法的鉴定所见证的那样，这是两个亚洲恐怖分子恐龙分类群）。 ***我与HQP进行的项目的具体示例包括对北美和亚洲的Dromaeosaurids（包括Saurornithlestes）的系统发育分析。目前，来自艾伯塔省和蒙古的卵肌龙的描述和系统发育分析尤其有效，并且正在提供caenagnathid theropods的跨大陆互换的详细信息。这项工作继续进行了新的中国troodontid分类单元，这将使我们更加熟悉特鲁顿。 2009年在艾伯塔省收集的一只鸟霉菌具有羽毛印象。两篇论文在羽毛上发表了，现在通过与多伦多和隆德（瑞典）的实验室合作，通过SEM和地球化学技术对其保存完好的黑色素体进行了分析。我实验室中的其他举措包括使用牙齿搪瓷对稳定同位素进行分析。尽管以前用来确定灭绝动物的营养水平，但该技术现在可以分析较小的样品，包括小兽脚架牙齿的搪瓷。类似的协作牙齿项目使用搪瓷中同位素的激光燃料来确定恐龙公园的牙齿改变程度，并将同位素约会技术与已知放射测定日期进行比较，作为对其他地区同位素研究的对照。另一个通过我的研究开始的合作项目涉及蒙古骨头的地球化学指纹识别，以此作为改善非法偷猎或缺乏出处信息的标本的局部信息的机制。近年来我的实验室的成功可以与我对培训HQP的信念直接相关。*****