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: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=711166
• 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.

在阿尔伯塔省省立恐龙公园出土的 800 多具骨骼中，2014 年发现了加拿大有史以来收集到的小型兽脚亚目恐龙（蜥鸟龙）的最佳标本，目前正在研究中。该计划与北美西部其他地区正在进行的类似研究相结合，一幅生态特定恐龙群落的图景正在浮现，其中各个类群正在迅速进化。在阿尔伯塔省，兽脚类恐龙的进化变化可以通过红鹿河沿岸一系列不同的恐龙动物群来追踪。然而，由于来自亚洲的新形式的移民，了解当地的进化变化很复杂，我一直在研究几种兽脚亚目动物的可能起源地区。我在亚洲的主要关注点是蒙古的内梅格特地层，它与恐龙公园地层大致处于同一时期。任何恐龙家族在这两个地区的任何一个地区的存在都预示着它也会在另一个地区被发现（正如最近在艾伯塔省发现的阿瓦拉慈龙和小盗龙——两种亚洲兽脚亚目恐龙类群所证明的那样）。 我与 HQP 正在进行的项目的具体例子包括北美和亚洲驰龙科（包括蜥鸟龙类）的描述和系统发育分析。目前，对阿尔伯塔省和蒙古的偷蛋龙的描述和系统发育分析尤其富有成效，并提供了兽脚亚目兽脚类动物洲际交流的细节。 我与中国同事的长期交往给了我很多机会在中国研究密切相关的兽脚类恐龙。这项工作正在继续进行，研究中国伤齿龙的一个新分类单元，这将使我们对伤齿龙有更多的了解。 2009 年在艾伯塔省采集到的拟鸟龙有羽毛痕迹；两篇关于羽毛的论文已经发表，目前正在与多伦多和隆德（瑞典）的实验室合作，利用扫描电镜和地球化学技术对羽毛中保存丰富的黑素体进行分析。我实验室的其他举措包括使用牙釉质分析稳定同位素。尽管该技术以前用于确定已灭绝动物的营养水平，但现在可以分析更小的样本，包括小型兽脚亚目动物牙齿的牙釉质。一个类似的合作牙齿项目使用激光烧蚀牙釉质中的同位素来确定恐龙公园牙齿的成岩变化程度，并将同位素测年技术与已知的辐射日期进行比较，作为其他地区同位素研究的对照。通过我的研究启动的另一个合作项目涉及蒙古骨骼的地球化学指纹识别，作为一种机制来改善非法偷猎或缺乏来源信息的标本的地点信息。我实验室近年来的成功与我对培训 HQP 的信念直接相关。