Evolution and Paleobiology of Early Cretaceous Terrestrial Vertebrates from Texas

德克萨斯州早白垩世陆生脊椎动物的进化和古生物学

• 批准号: 8816313
• 负责人: Dale Winkler
• 金额: $ 9.56万
• 依托单位: Southern Methodist University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-01-15 至 1991-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8816313&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Evolution; Paleobiology; Early; Cretaceous; Terrestrial

The early Cretaceous was an interval of geologic time that witnessed the diversification of mammals and flowering plants, and the first extinctions leading to the disappearance of dinosaurs. Vertebrate fossils of this age are not common in North America, and Dr. Dale Winkler proposes to excavate and prepare an important collection of early Cretaceous fossils from north-central Texas. The specimens of dinosaurs are extraordinarily well-preserved, representing a variety of taxa in a range of growth stages. Quantitative analysis of development will be pursued following the collection and curation phases of the project. Amphibians, other reptiles, and mammals are also represented at the targeted localities. The proposed research has the potential to fill an important gap in our knowledge of vertebrate evolution. The excellent preservation of the vertebrates in this area will illuminate both the details of growth in several dinosaurs and the diversity of the vertebrate assemblage as a whole. The results of this work will be of interest to paleontologists, paleoecologists, and evolutionary biologists in general.

早期的白垩纪是地质时代的一个间隔，目睹了哺乳动物和开花植物的多样化，以及导致恐龙消失的第一批灭绝。 这个时代的脊椎动物化石在北美并不常见，戴尔·温克勒（Dale Winkler）博士提议挖掘并准备重要的早期白垩纪化石的重要收藏。 恐龙的标本非常保存完好，代表了各种生长阶段的各种分类单元。 在项目的收集和策展阶段将进行开发的定量分析。 两栖动物，其他爬行动物和哺乳动物也在目标地区代表。 拟议的研究有可能填补我们对脊椎动物进化的了解的重要空白。 在该区域的脊椎动物的出色保存将阐明几种恐龙的生长细节以及整个脊椎动物组合的多样性。 一般而言，古生物学家，古生物学家和进化生物学家将引起这项工作的结果。