New reptiles from the Middle Triassic of Germany and the early evolutionary history of lepidosaurs

德国中三叠世的新爬行动物和鳞龙类的早期进化史

基本信息

批准号：
397562308
负责人：
Professor Dr. Rainer Schoch
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：
2017
资助国家：
德国
起止时间：
2016-12-31 至 2021-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/397562308?language=en
关键词：
New reptiles Middle Triassic Germany

项目摘要

Lepidosaurs are a major vertebrate clade, with more than 9.400 species forming an ecologically diverse and geographically widespread group. Their early evolution and diversification are still poorly understood. Molecular data indicate that the two extant branches, squamates and tuataras, probably split during Triassic time. Unfortunately, lepidosaur-like fossils are very rare in Triassic rocks, which yielded only few fragmentarily known stem taxa (Lepidosauromorpha) apart from the fully established rhynchocephalians. This results from the small body size and poorly ossified skeletons as well as the poverty of fossil Lagerstaetten with good preservation potential for small tetrapods. In the Lower Keuper of Vellberg (Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany), scientific excavations have recently produced a vast number of small lepidosauromorph skeletons. The osteological analysis of these finds is time-consuming, requiring CT data in addition to extensive examination under the microscope, necessary to identify elements and fully understand the 3d structure of the often disarticulated and heavily crushed skeletons. The objectives of the proposed project are the description and documentation of the newly discovered taxa, the study of the ontogeny on the basis of preserved size classes, the phylogenetic analysis in a wide frame of diapsids, and the study of character evolution in the stem line of lepidosaurs. This project will greatly increase our understanding of how the modern ecological and taxonomic diversity of lepidosaurs first arose, and will shed more light on the evolution of diapsid reptiles on a general scale.

鳞龙是一个主要的脊椎动物分支，有超过 9,400 个物种，形成了一个生态多样化、地理分布广泛的类群。我们对它们的早期进化和多样化仍知之甚少，分子数据表明，现存的两个分支——有鳞龙和蜥蜴——可能在三叠纪时期分裂。不幸的是，类似鳞龙的化石在三叠纪岩石中非常罕见，除了这是由于在费尔贝格下库珀（德国西南部巴登-符腾堡州）的体型较小、骨骼骨化不良以及具有良好保存潜力的 Lagerstaetten 化石的原因。最近制作了大量小型鳞龙类骨骼，对这些发现进行骨学分析非常耗时，除了在显微镜下进行广泛检查外，还需要 CT 数据。识别元素并充分理解经常脱节和严重破碎的骨骼的 3D 结构拟议项目的目标是描述和记录新发现的分类单元、基于保存的大小类别的个体发育研究、系统发育分析。在双孔类的广泛框架中，以及对鳞龙类干系特征进化的研究，该项目将极大地增加我们对鳞龙类现代生态和分类多样性如何最初出现的理解。进一步阐明双孔类爬行动物的总体进化。