Catalyzing New International Collaborations:Decapod Crustaceans in a Triassic Lagerstatten in China

该奖项支持肯特州立大学的罗德尼·费尔德曼（Rodney Feldman）教授和嘉莉·施韦策（Carrie Schweitzer）教授对中国成都地质与海洋资源研究所的计划访问。这次旅行的目的是开展一个合作研究项目，研究十足类动物，特别是甲壳类动物的早期进化和辐射，以及对中生代海洋革命早期历史的影响。最近在云南罗平发现了大量保存完好的化石，获得这些标本提供了一个机会，大大扩展了对二叠纪末灭绝后人类动物恢复的理解。这次计划访问的目的是在成都保存完好的大型化石库的基础上，建立研究和教育方面的国际合作。中国的十足类动物标本很少，因此本研究将大大增加中生代早期海洋演化的知识基础。为了促进参与者之间的研究合作，这次计划访问将为在中国的全面研究提案奠定基础。随后的研究项目承诺将吸引本科生和研究生参与实地工作。

This award supports a planning visit to the Chengdu Institute of Geology and Marine Resources in Chendu, China, by Professors Rodney Feldman and Carrie Schweitzer of Kent State. The purpose of the trip is to develop a collaborative research project on the early evolution and radiation of decapods, specifically Crustacea, and the implications for the early history of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. An extensive assemblage of well preserved fossils has recently been discovered in Luoping, Yunnan Province, and access to the specimens presents an opportunity to expand greatly the understanding of anthropod recovery following the end-Permian extinction. This planning visit aims to establish an international collaboration in both research and education based on the large repository of well preserved fossils in Chengdu. Few specimens of decapods in China have been described so the proposed study can add considerably to the knowledge base of marine evolution in the early Mesozoic period. In promoting the research collaboration among the participants, this planning visit will establish the basis for a full-scale proposal for research in China. That subsequent research project promises to engage undergraduate and graduate students in the field work.