U.S.-Japan Cooperative Research: Pinniped Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography in the North Pacific

9417088该项目是圣地亚哥州立大学、千叶自然历史博物馆和东京国立科学博物馆的合作研究成果。该项目将重点研究保存完好的来自日本的鳍脚类化石(海豹、海狮和海象)的头骨和肢体元素，这些化石位于晚渐新世至更新世(2700万-150万年前)的岩石沉积物中。特别令人感兴趣的是基本的管脚类动物，它们是现存的主要管脚类动物的祖先。这些来自日本的古生物化石在数量和物种多样性方面仅次于美国的那些，这使得它们对于研究早期羽足动物的进化至关重要。通过对日本和美国这些标本的比较研究，研究人员将能够检验目前关于北太平洋鳍脚类之间进化关系及其生物地理历史的假说。项目资金将使美国一位顶尖的专家和一名研究生能够在未来三年内研究日本各种博物馆藏品中收藏的鳍脚类化石。*这个系统生物学和古生物学方面的项目将启动日本和美国同事之间的协作工作。这一宝贵的合作是朝着全面评估北太平洋羽足类起源和多样化迈出的必要的第一步。

9417088 Archibald This project represents a collaborative research effort by San Diego State University, the Natural History Museum (Chiba) and the National Science Museum (Tokyo) in Japan. The project will focus on morphological study of well preserved skulls and limb elements of fossil pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses) from Japan in rock deposits that span the late Oligocene through the Pleistocene (27-.5 million years ago). Of special interest are basal pinnipeds ancestral to the major groups of living pinnipeds. These archaic fossil pinnipeds from Japan are second only to those in the US in number and diversity of species, making them of critical importance for studies of early pinniped evolution. By comparative study of these specimens in Japan and the US, the investigators wil be able to test current hypotheses of the evolutionary relationships among pinnipeds and their biogeographic history in the North Pacific. Project funding will enable a leading expert in the US and a graduate student to study fossil pinnipeds housed in various museum collections in Japan over the next three years. *** This project in systematic biology and paleontology will enable the initiation of collaborative work between colleagues in Japan and the US. This valuable collaboration represents a necessary first step toward the development of a comprehensive assesssment of pinniped origins and diversification in the North Pacific.