IPG: Collaborative Research: Research on East African Catarrhine and Hominoid Evolution

IPG：合作研究：东非卡他林和类人猿进化研究

• 批准号: 1241812
• 负责人: Daniel Peppe
• 金额: $ 15.29万
• 依托单位: Baylor University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1241812&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IPG; Collaborative; Research; East; African

New evidence from early fossil humans suggests that, in some respects, these hominins more closely resembled the earliest fossil apes than any modern ape. While such findings substantially impact our understanding of early hominin adaptive morphology, their precise implications remain unclear because the original ecological conditions in which these features evolved is poorly documented. To address this problem, this project will answer the following three research questions: What are the regional patterns of environmental change and the site-specific habitats associated with the earliest fossil apes? How does the morphology of early apes relate to the environmental contexts in which they lived? How do early ape adaptations inform our understanding of later ape and human evolution? These questions will be answered by establishing a multi-disciplinary, multi-national collaboration to initiate new paleontological field research at all of the early fossil ape localities in East Africa. For the first time, new fossil and data collection will be coordinated across nearly a dozen Kenyan sites near Kisingiri, Tinderet, West Turkana, and Buluk, and a similar number of Ugandan sites at Napak, Moroto, and Bukwa. In addition to surveys and excavation, a series of geological, ecological, and taphonomic analyses will be used to understand the age, environment, and setting of each locality. New fossils will be subjected to rigorous morphological analyses to determine their evolutionary and adaptive significance. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on individual localities, this regional approach to understanding ancient ecosystems will track environmental variations over the time and space of early ape evolution, making it possible to relate specific habitat types with primate adaptive morphology.The origin and early diversification of the ape-human lineage represents a fundamental shift in primate body plans, and is therefore an integral resource for interpreting the later evolution of apes and humans. For decades, most researchers have studied human origins through the lens of modern ape and human characteristics, marginalizing a large and diverse body of evidence from their ancient ape predecessors. This project represents an important and substantive step toward fully integrating our knowledge of living and fossil apes and humans. Moreover, coordinating a project of this breadth - using the same methods and protocols across all of the relevant fossil sites - will allow data to be synthesized on a scale not previously possible, setting new benchmarks for conducting future field projects. This project will thus model a collaborative approach that will be more productive and beneficial to the discipline of paleoanthropology.This project also generates substantial broader impacts. A critical component of the grant is the training of US and East Africa graduate and US undergraduate students in the discipline of paleoanthropology. The project also includes the National Museums of Kenya as a full collaborative scientific partner in the proposed research. A well-established partnership between University of Michigan, Makerere University and the National Museum (Uganda) will be fostered by this grant, helping to train staff and students in Uganda on field and analytical techniques. Finally, a digital database cataloging all the fossils and data collected from all of the localities will be made freely available after the conclusion of the project.

早期化石人类的新证据表明，在某些方面，这些人类与最早的化石猿相比更像是任何现代猿。尽管这些发现很大程度上影响了我们对早期人类自适应形态的理解，但它们的确切含义仍然不清楚，因为这些特征进化的最初生态条件的文献很少。为了解决这个问题，该项目将回答以下三个研究问题：环境变化的区域模式以及与最早的化石猿有关的特定地点栖息地？早期猿类的形态与它们所生活的环境环境有何关系？早期的猿类适应如何使我们对后来的猿类和人类进化的理解？这些问题将通过建立多学科的跨国合作来回答，以在东非所有早期的化石猿类地区开始新的古生物学现场研究。新的化石和数据收集将首次在Kisingiri，Tinderet，West Turkana和Buluk附近的近十二个肯尼亚地点进行协调，以及在Napak，Moroto和Bukwa的乌干达遗址类似。除了调查和发掘外，还将使用一系列地质，生态和taphonomic分析来了解每个地方的年龄，环境和设置。新的化石将进行严格的形态分析，以确定其进化和适应性意义。与以前专注于各个地区的研究不同，这种区域理解古代生态系统的方法将在早期猿类进化的时间和空间中跟踪环境变化，从而使特定的栖息地类型与灵长类动物适应性的形态相关联。几十年来，大多数研究人员通过现代猿类和人类特征的角度研究了人类的起源，从而使他们的古代猿人前任的大量证据边缘化。该项目代表着充分整合我们对生活和化石猿和人类的知识的重要而实质性的一步。此外，通过使用所有相关化石站点的相同方法和协议来协调一个广度的项目 - 将允许以前不可能合成数据，从而为进行未来的现场项目设定新的基准。因此，该项目将建模一种协作方法，该方法将对古人类学的学科更有生产力和有益。该项目还产生了更广泛的影响。赠款的一个关键组成部分是对我们和东非毕业生的培训以及我们的本科生在古人类学学科中的培训。该项目还包括肯尼亚国家博物馆，作为拟议研究的完整合作科学合作伙伴。密歇根大学，马克雷雷大学和国家博物馆（乌干达）之间建立了建立的合作伙伴关系，这笔赠款将培养，帮助培训乌干达的员工和学生在现场和分析技术方面。最后，将在项目结束后免费提供，将所有从所有地方收集的化石和数据分类的数字数据库分类。