Ontogenetic variation of the Middle Triassic pseudosuchian Batrachotomus kupferzellensis: Implications for the palaeobiology of early archosaurs

中三叠世拟鳄类 Batrachotomus kupferzellensis 的个体发生变异：对早期古龙古生物学的启示

• 批准号: 325969278
• 负责人: Dr. Christian Foth
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart - Zentrum für Biodiversitätsforschung
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-31 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/325969278?language=en
• 关键词: Ontogenetic; variation; Middle; Triassic; pseudosuchian

The clade of Archosauria consists of two main clades, the Ornithodira (including extant birds) and the Pseudosuchia (including extant crocodylians), and represents one of the most successful clades among tetrapods. Most of our knowledge of the palaeobiology of Mesozoic archosaurs (e.g. intraspecific variation, growth physiology and functional morphology) is based on ornithodirans (i.e. non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs), whereas respective knowledge is limited for early pseudosuchians, although the latter evolved a great taxonomic and ecological diversity, especially in the Triassic period. Due the availability of several specimens of different ontogenetic stages the pseudosuchian Batrachotomus kupferzellensis from the Middle Triassic outcrops of Baden Württemberg, which represents one of the terrestrial top predators during this time period, represents an appropriate object to study the palaeobiology of early pseudosuchians. Thus, the aim of the proposed project is to obtain better insights into this topic, using the Batrachotomus kupferzellensis as a model organism. Important questions to be answered during this project include the following: How long did Batrachotomus kupferzellensis take to grow to adult size and when did it reach sexual maturity? How far was its growth subject to seasonality? What does this tell us about growth rates in this taxon? Did the animal growth uniformly within different body regions? What are main ontogenetic changes in the osteology of Batrachotomus kupferzellensis? Are there changes in dentition (e.g. serration, morphology of teeth)? Do these data reveal ontogenetic differences in ecology, e.g. in terms of locomotion and feeding behaviour? If comparing the data with that of extant crocodylians, other basal pseudosuchians and basal dinosaurs, does the ontogenetic data of Batrachotomus kupferzellensis provide any evidence for heterochronic events in early archosaur evolution? What are the plesiomorphic ontogenetic and growth patterns of the hypothetical ancestor of Archosauria? The central methods to answer these questions will be the analysis of bone histology, morphometrics, detailed studies of the osteology as well as three-dimensional reconstructions of internal cranial structures based on MicroCT data. In sum, the proposed project will help to learn more about the palaeobiology of Batrachotomus kupferzellensis and closely related species, which also helps to understand their role as top-predators in the terrestrial ecosystems of the Triassic. Due to a wider comparison with other Archosauriformes, the project will obtain deeper insights in the palaeobiology of Triassic pseudosuchians and basal archosaurs in general.

Archosauria的进化枝由两个主要进化枝组成，即Ornithodira（包括额外的鸟类）和伪造症（包括额外的鳄鱼），代表了四足动物中最成功的进化枝之一。我们对中生代周期库古生物学的大多数了解（例如种内变异，生长生理学和功能形态）基于鸟齿（即非阿比亚恐龙和翼龙）基于鸟类，而相对知识却限制了早期的pseudosuchians，虽然相对知识却限制了较大的偏见，并且尤其是偏见的多样性，并且范围内的偏见是遗体的，并且是对遗产的范围。由于有几种不同的个体发育阶段的可用性，因此BadenWürttemberg的中间三叠纪露头的伪造batrachotomus kupferzellensis代表了这​​一时期的陆地上层捕食者之一，代表了适当的对象，以研究早期的Peaeobiology of Peraeobiologic of Peraeobiology of Pseudosudians的古生物学。这是拟议项目的目的是将Batrachotomus kupferzellensis作为模型生物获得更好的见解。在此项目中要回答的重要问题包括以下内容：Batrachotomus Kupferzellensis需要多长时间成人大小，什么时候达到性成熟？它的增长需要季节性？这告诉我们这个分类单元的增长率是什么？动物在不同人体区域内的生长是否统一？ Batrachotomus kupferzellensis的骨科学主要变化是什么？牙列有变化（例如序列，牙齿的形态）吗？这些数据是否揭示了生态学上的个体发育差异，例如在本地人，其他基本的伪造主义者和基本恐龙方面，Batrachotomus kupferzellensis的个体发育数据是否为早期Archosaur进化中的异缘事件提供了任何证据？假设祖先的元素形式和生长模式是什么？回答这些问题的中心方法将是骨骼组织学，形态计量学，基于微分组数据的内部颅内结构的骨科学以及三维重建的详细研究。总而言之，拟议的项目将有助于更多地了解Batrachotomus kupferzellensis和密切相关的物种的古生物学，这也有助于了解他们作为三叠纪陆地生态系统中顶级倡导者的作用。由于与其他Archosauriformes进行了广泛的比较，该项目将获得对三叠纪伪造主义和基本的Archosaurs古生物学的更深入见解。