Influence of Cenozoic Climate and Environmental Change on the Evolution and Ecology of North American Ungulate Mammals

新生代气候和环境变化对北美有蹄类哺乳动物进化和生态的影响地球气候和自然环境的变化通过引起物种的灭绝、新物种的产生和现存物种的进化变化，塑造了生物的多样性。在过去的5500万年里，北美大平原上的有蹄类哺乳动物（如骆驼、马、羚羊）面临着重大的气候变化和主要的生态系统重组，包括北美草原的起源和扩展，出现了多样化。这些气候和环境的变化是确定的，有蹄类动物在这段时间内作为化石被大量保存下来。该项目的目标是利用优秀的有蹄类动物化石记录来详细描述谱系内关键特征的进化，谱系的起源和灭绝，以及这些过程如何改变有蹄类动物群落的生态。以前的研究已经在各种植物和动物群体中解决了这些问题，但很少将所有三种模式同时集成在分析中。然后将这些模式与北美的气候和环境变化进行比较，以直接测试其影响的强度。人们通常预计，快速气候变化的间隔将推动有蹄类动物之间的快速进化和生态更替，但这些模式可能不同，例如，在气候变暖与变冷的间隔之间。总的来说，这个项目将帮助我们更好地了解气候变化如何影响现代世界的脊椎动物进化和群落，并将为我们研究过去的环境提供额外的定量工具。相对简单的数据收集方法将促进本科生和研究生的参与，并将被用来招募和留住传统上代表性不足的少数民族（URM）本科生从事科学研究。

Jonathan David MarcotEAR 1252123Influence of Cenozoic Climate and Environmental Change on the Evolution and Ecology of North American Ungulate MammalsChanges in Earth's climate and physical environment have shaped the diversity of life by causing the extinction of species, the origin of new species, and evolutionary change in existing species. Over the past 55 million years, ungulate mammals from the Great Plains of North America (e.g., camels, horses, antelope) diversified in the face of substantial climatic changes and major ecosystem rearrangements, including the origin and spread of the North American prairie. These climatic and environmental changes are well established, and ungulates are abundantly preserved as fossils throughout this time interval. The objective of this project is to use the excellent fossil record of ungulates to detail the evolution of key traits within lineages, the origin and extinction of lineages, and how these processes altered the ecology of ungulate communities. Previous studies have addressed these topics in various plant and animal groups, but rarely have all three patterns been integrated in simultaneous analysis. These patterns will then be compared against the climatic and environmental changes in North America to directly test the strength their influence. It is generally expected that intervals of rapid climatic change will drive rapid evolution and ecological turnover among ungulates, but these patterns may differ, for example, between intervals of climatic warming versus cooling. Overall, this project will help us better understand how climate change shapes vertebrate evolution and communities in the modern world, and will give us an additional quantitative tools for studying past environments. The relatively simple methods of data collection will facilitate the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students, and will be leveraged to recruit and retain traditionally underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduate students in scientific research.