Dark Data from the White Continent: New Light on Five Decades of Vertebrate Paleontology Collections from the Triassic Fremouw Formation of Antarctica

来自白色大陆的暗数据：对南极洲三叠纪 Fremouw 组的五个十年的脊椎动物古生物学收藏的新认识

• 批准号: 2313242
• 负责人: Christian Sidor
• 金额: $ 39.09万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2313242&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dark; Data; White; Continent; New

Part 1: A nontechnical description of the projectAround 252 million years ago, the Permian–Triassic mass extinction wiped out over 90% of species on Earth. At about the same time, the Antarctic portion of the supercontinent of Pangea transitioned to a warmer climatic regime devoid of a permanent ice cap. Compared to lower latitudes, relatively little is known about the survivors of the extinction in Antarctica, although it has been hypothesized that the continent’s more polar location shielded it from the worst of the extinction’s effects. Relevant fossils from the Early Triassic of Antarctica have been collected for over 50 years, but nearly all of the small reptiles found have been assigned to either Procolophon or Prolacerta. However, preliminary data suggests that this is an undercount of the true diversity. This grant supports one postdoctoral researcher with expertise in fossil reptiles to reassess the Early Triassic fossil record of Antarctica, including their identification, relationships, and how they fit into the terrestrial ecosystem of Antarctica and other southern hemisphere terrestrial assemblages considering the major reorganization of post-extinction environments. A quantitative reassessment of historical fossil collections is a major part of this work. Undergraduate students at the University of Washington will be actively involved as part of this research and learn skills like hard tissue histology and CT data manipulation. Public engagement in Antarctic science will be accomplished through the University of Washington Burke Museum, which is the Washington State museum of natural history and culture, and include display development and visits to schools in the Seattle area. Part 2: A technical description of the project This two-year project will bring new analytic techniques to bear on the nearly 1100 vertebrate fossils collected from the Lower Triassic portion of the Fremouw Formation of Antarctica over the past five decades. Through a combination of CT-based analysis of particularly well-preserved specimens, preparation and restudy of other critical fossils, and quantitative comparisons between the assemblages of the Fremouw Formation and coeval strata from lower latitudes, we can make substantial progress in understanding the significance of Antarctic vertebrate faunas during the initial stages of the Triassic. More specifically, this research will 1) document previously undescribed species, 2) understand the taxonomic and ecological composition of Fremouw vertebrate (particularly reptile) assemblages, 3) make comparisons to several lower latitude assemblages, 4) measure skeletal completeness and anatomical representation in the records of synapsids, temnospondyls, and reptiles, and 5) assess taxonomic abundance and diversity of these major tetrapod groups across different localities and depositional environments. The problem of ‘dark data,’ or museum records not accessible digitally, will be addressed by providing the Antarctic data generated by this research to several repositories and online venues, including iDigBio. Overall, this research will provide new insights into the vertebrate fauna of the Fremouw Formation, as well as shed light on the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems in southern Pangea in the wake of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Broader impacts work will include involving undergraduates at the University of Washington (UW) in several research projects, featuring Antarctic fossils at the UW Burke Museum’s annual DinoFest, developing a new display on Antarctic paleontology, and visiting local Seattle schools with a curriculum developed by the Burke Museum’s education department.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.

第 1 部分：项目的非技术性描述大约 2.52 亿年前，二叠纪-三叠纪大规模灭绝消灭了地球上 90% 以上的物种，大约在同一时间，盘古大陆的南极部分转变为更温暖的气候状态。与低纬度地区相比，缺乏永久冰盖，人们对南极洲灭绝事件的幸存者知之甚少，尽管人们已经利用了这一点。南极洲的地处极地，使其免受了最严重的灭绝影响。50多年来，人们一直在收集南极洲早期三叠世的相关化石，但几乎所有发现的小型爬行动物都被归为Procolophon或Prolacerta。初步数据表明，这低估了真正的多样性。这笔赠款支持一位具有化石爬行动物专业知识的博士后研究员重新评估早期三叠世化石记录。南极洲，包括它们的识别、关系，以及考虑到灭绝后环境的重大重组，它们如何适应南极洲的陆地生态系统和其他南半球陆地组合，是这项工作的主要部分。华盛顿大学的学生将积极参与这项研究，并学习硬组织组织学和 CT 数据处理等技能。公众参与南极科学。通过华盛顿大学伯克博物馆（华盛顿州自然历史和文化博物馆）完成，包括展示开发和参观西雅图地区的学校。第二部分：项目的技术描述这个为期两年的项目将。通过对保存完好的标本进行基于 CT 的分析、制备和分析，对过去 50 年来从南极洲 Fremouw 组下三叠纪部分采集的近 1100 块脊椎动物化石采用新的分析技术。通过对其他关键化石的重新研究，以及对弗雷莫组和低纬度同期地层的组合进行定量比较，我们可以在了解三叠纪初期南极脊椎动物群的重要性方面取得实质性进展。 1) 记录以前未描述的物种，2) 了解 Fremouw 脊椎动物（特别是爬行动物）的分类学和生态组成组合，3）与几个低纬度组合进行比较，4）测量突孔类、膜椎类和爬行动物记录中的骨骼完整性和解剖学表征，5）评估这些主要四足类群在不同地点和沉积环境中的分类丰度和多样性“暗数据”或无法以数字方式访问的博物馆记录的问题将通过提供由此生成的南极数据来解决。总体而言，这项研究将为 Fremouw 组的脊椎动物群提供新的见解，并揭示二叠纪-三叠纪之后盘古大陆南部陆地生态系统的演变。更广泛的影响工作将包括让华盛顿大学（UW）的本科生参与多个研究项目，其中包括在华盛顿大学伯克博物馆的年度活动中展示南极化石。 DinoFest，关于南极古生物学的新展示，以及参观西雅图当地学校，学习由伯克博物馆教育部门开发的课程。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估来提供支持标准。