NSFGEO-NERC: Ancient life in moving fluids: elucidating the emergence of animal ecosystems

该项目由美国国家科学基金会地球科学理事会（NSF/GEO）和英国国家环境研究委员会（UKRI/NERC）通过NSF/GEO-NERC牵头机构协议共同资助。该协议允许美国/英国提交一份联合提案，并由其调查员拥有最大比例预算的机构进行同行评审。在成功地共同确定一项奖励后，每个机构为预算的比例和与自己的调查人员有关的调查人员和工作的组成部分提供资金。化石记录显示，复杂生命最早是在5.71亿到5.41亿年前的海洋中进化出来的。了解这些生物是如何、何时、为何进化的，以及它们与现存动物的关系，对于破译现代生物多样性和生态系统的起源至关重要。然而，人们对这一时期的关键化石知之甚少。该研究项目将使用一种创新的新方法，将计算机建模和模拟与地质实地调查相结合，分析5亿年前的化石。获得的结果将改变我们对地球上最古老的动物化石的理解，填补我们对生命早期进化知识的关键空白。与田纳西州戴维森公司的教师合作，这些信息将用于创建学习模块，用于向11-12年级的学生教授进化、适应、3D建模和流体动力学的基本原理，这些模块将免费提供给公众、教育工作者和美国和英国的学生。埃迪卡拉纪晚期（约5.71 - 5.41亿年前）动物生态系统的出现是进化史上的一个关键时期。然而，大多数埃迪卡拉生物在寒武纪之前就消失了，这可能代表了复杂生命的第一次大灭绝。因此，有两个关键问题将提供对现代生态系统起源的基本见解：1)埃迪卡拉纪生物在生命之树中处于什么位置？2)是什么导致它们在寒武纪开始前灭绝？我们将通过结合在野外工作中收集的新数据与计算流体动力学和流体-结构相互作用模拟对个体生物和整个群落进行模拟来解决这些问题。该项目将提高对复杂生态系统早期进化的认识，同时开创一种严谨的新方法，用于研究海洋生物如何对流动流体作出反应而进化。除了促进国际研究合作外，PI团队还将与田纳西州卢瑟福县的当地高中教师合作，制作专注于3d建模和流体动力学的学习模块，适用于向美国和英国的学生（16-18岁）传授关键的进化原理。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This is a project that is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Geosciences (NSF/GEO) and the National Environment Research Council (UKRI/NERC) of the United Kingdom UK) via the NSF/GEO-NERC Lead Agency Agreement. This Agreement allows a single joint US/UK proposal to be submitted and peer-reviewed by the Agency whose investigator has the largest proportion of the budget. Upon successful joint determination of an award, each Agency funds the proportion of the budget and the investigators associated with its own investigators and component of the work.The fossil record shows that complex life first evolved in the oceans, 571 million to 541 million years ago. Understanding how, when, and why these organisms evolved, as well as their relationships to living animals, is crucial for deciphering the origins of modern biodiversity and ecosystems. However, key fossils from this time interval are poorly understood. This research project will analyze half-a-billion-year-old fossils using an innovative new approach that combines computer modeling and simulation with geological fieldwork. The results obtained will transform our understanding of the oldest animal fossils on Earth, filling critical gaps in our knowledge of the early evolution of life. In collaboration with teachers in Davidson Co., TN, this information will be used to create learning modules for teaching the basic tenets of evolution, adaptation, 3D modeling, and fluid dynamics to students in grades 11–12, which will be made freely available to the public, educators and students in the US and UK. The emergence of animal ecosystems during the late Ediacaran (~571–541 million years ago) was a pivotal episode in evolutionary history. However, most of these Ediacaran organisms disappeared immediately before the Cambrian, in what may represent the first mass extinction of complex life. There are thus two key questions that will provide fundamental insights into the origins of modern ecosystems: 1) where do Ediacaran organisms fit in the tree of life? And, 2) what drove their extinction prior to the onset of the Cambrian? We will address these questions by combining new data collected during fieldwork with computational fluid dynamics and fluid–structure interaction simulations performed on both individual organisms and whole communities. This project will improve knowledge of the early evolution of complex ecosystems, while at the same time pioneering the development of a rigorous new approach for examining how marine organisms evolved in response to moving fluids. In addition to facilitating international research collaboration, the PI team will work together with local high school teachers in Rutherford County, Tennessee, to produce learning modules focused on 3-D modeling and fluid dynamics, suitable for communicating key evolutionary principals to school students (16–18 years old) in the US and UK.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.