Middle to Late Jurassic archosaurs from Chubut Province, Argentinean Patagonia and Jurassic archosaur radiations in the Southern Hemisphere

侏罗纪是我们理解脊椎动物进化和生物多样性的重要时期，因为它看到了许多重要分支的第一次主要辐射，包括鳄鱼，翼龙和阿留申主龙。有人认为，在这一时期，泛古陆的最初分裂是侏罗纪脊椎动物进化的一个重要因素。然而，我们对这一时期陆生脊椎动物群变化的了解实际上是基于相对较少的地点，这些地点几乎完全在北方发现。阿根廷的丘布特省发现了南美洲唯一的陆生侏罗纪主龙动物群。此外，在这里发现的两个不同的地层中，跨越了冈瓦纳分离发生的时间段，使该地区成为我们了解南半球中侏罗世至晚侏罗世主龙动物群变化的潜在关键区域。因此，目前建议的目的是通过在这两个地层中进行密集的实地考察和对所得材料的详细研究来提高我们对侏罗纪祖龙演化的认识。

The Jurassic is an important period for our understanding of vertebrate evolution and biodiversity, since it saw the first major radiations of many important clades, including crocodilian, pterosaurian and dinosaurian archosaurs. It has been suggested that the initial break-up of the supercontinent of Pangea during this period was an important factor in Jurassic vertebrate evolution. However, our knowledge of the changes of especially terrestrial vertebrate faunas during this time is actually based on comparatively few localities, which are almost exclusively found in the Northern Hemisphere. Chubut province, Argentina, has yielded the only terrestrial Jurassic archosaur faunas known from South America. Furthermore, archosaurs are found here in two different formations, which span the time period during which the separation of Gondwana took place, making this area a potential key area for our understanding of changes in archosaurian faunas from the Middle to the Late Jurassic in the Southern Hemisphere. The objective of the current proposal is thus to improve our knowledge of Jurassic archosaur evolution by carrying out intensive fieldwork in both of these formations and by detailed studies of the resulting material.