US-Mexico Cooperative Research: Global Paleobiogeographic Implications from a Regional Study

0003058Feldmann该美国-墨西哥奖将资助俄亥俄州肯特州立大学Rodney M. Feldmann博士与墨西哥国立自治大学Francisco J. Vega博士合作的一个合作项目。研究人员的目标是研究墨西哥新生代的古地理历史，并考虑这段历史对化石十足甲壳类动物（虾、蟹和龙虾）和软体动物的进化和地理分布的影响。被研究的地区位于恰帕斯州和下加利福尼亚南部，位于南美洲和中美洲地区，在第三纪期间，这些地区既是海洋生物传播的屏障，也是海洋生物传播的途径，因此在十足类动物的古生物地理故事中，这是一个至关重要的环节。这些生物的传播路线最有可能穿过墨西哥和中美洲；然而，该地区的化石记录目前还不足以验证这一假设。预计本研究将有助于解析和描述十足类动物的扩散路径，并将其与软体动物的扩散模式进行比较，并为评价其他海洋生物类群的扩散历史的一般性陈述提供依据。

0003058FeldmannThis US-Mexico award will fund a collaborative project between Dr. Rodney M. Feldmann, Kent State University, Ohio, in collaboration with Dr. Francisco J. Vega, National Autonomous University of Mexico. The researchers aim to study the Cenozoic paleographic history of Mexico and to consider the implications of this history for the evolution and geographic dispersal of fossil decapod crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, and lobsters) and molluscs. The areas to be studied, in the states of Chiapas and Baja California Sur, lie within the southern and Central American region that served both as a barrier to, and an avenue for, dispersal of marine organisms during the Tertiary, and therefore represent a crucial link in the paleobiogeographic story of decapods. The dispersal routes of these organisms are most likely to have crossed Mexico and Central America; however, the fossil record from this region is currently not adequate to test this hypothesis. It is anticipated that the proposed field research will make it possible to resolve and describe the routes of dispersal of decapods, compare those patterns with the patterns of dispersal of molluscs, and provide a basis for evaluating general statements about dispersal histories of other groups of marine organisms.