Collaborative Research: The geological and paleoecological contexts of early Miocene hominoid evolution

合作研究：早期中新世人科动物进化的地质和古生态背景

• 批准号: 2123498
• 负责人: Daniel Peppe
• 金额: $ 15.92万
• 依托单位: Baylor University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2123498&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; geological; paleoecological; contexts

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project examines the roles of time and environment in the adaptive evolution of early apes by advancing knowledge about the chronology, paleoecology, and species diversity for a set of geographically restricted fossil localities. The research design includes a series of fossil excavations to uncover new evidence of early apes and their habitats, combined with laboratory analyses designed to aid in synthesizing and interpreting these discoveries. The scientific importance of this project lies in documenting early ape adaptive diversity within specific, highly-resolved chronological and ecological contexts, with major downstream implications for interpreting the origin and diversification of later apes, including hominins. More broadly, this project expands participation in research through training opportunities targeted to underrepresented groups, enhances scientific infrastructure by digitizing invaluable but currently inaccessible field records, and increases public engagement with science through outreach activities aimed at museums and public schools. Fossil and molecular evidence indicate that the major lineages of humans and apes diverged during the early Miocene (ca. 23-16 Ma). The diversity of ape species and adaptations during that time greatly exceeds modern variation in this group making it difficult to interpret the evolutionary sequence and ecological contexts in which the suite of features shared by living apes and humans appeared. This project is organized around the central question: Are differences among early apes tied to differences in paleoenvironments, ages, or both? To clarify these relationships, researchers pursue three specific aims: (1) establishing a rigorous chronology of early ape fossil sites; (2) generating high-resolution paleoecological reconstructions for undersampled ape localities; and (3) documenting the diversity of ape species during the early Miocene. Fossil excavations are conducted at a series of outcrops to better document ape diversity, geological contexts, and habitat parameters. The project employs radiometric and magnetostratigraphy at correlated stratigraphic sections (Aim 1); sedimentological, isotopic, and paleontological analyses (Aim 2); and comparative, morphometric, and phylogenetic analyses of new fossil ape specimens (Aim 3). Integration of these study results can enable the researchers to contextualize the timing and ecological parameters associated with the emergence of key characteristics in the ape and human lineage, and to subsequently interpret how these early Miocene primate communities contributed to the distribution of primates across broad regions.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.

该奖项是根据2021年《美国救援计划法》（公法117-2）全部或部分资助的。该项目通过促进一组地理上限制的化石区域的知识来探讨时间和环境在早期猿类自适应演变中的作用。研究设计包括一系列化石发掘，以发现早期猿类及其栖息地的新证据，再加上旨在帮助综合和解释这些发现的实验室分析。该项目的科学重要性在于记录在特定，高度分辨的年代和生态环境中早期的猿类自适应多样性，这对解释包括人类在内的后来的猿类的起源和多样化具有重大的下游意义。从更广泛的角度来看，该项目通过针对代表性不足的群体的培训机会扩大参与研究的参与，通过数字化的宝贵但目前无法访问的现场记录来增强科学基础设施，并通过针对博物馆和公立学校的宣传活动来增加与科学的参与。化石和分子证据表明，在中新世早期（大约23-16 mA）期间人类和猿类的主要谱系。在此期间，猿类物种和适应的多样性极大地超过了这一组的现代变化，因此很难解释活着的猿和人类共享的一系列特征套件的进化顺序和生态环境。该项目围绕一个核心问题组织：与古环境，年龄或两者兼有差异相关的早期猿的差异？为了澄清这些关系，研究人员追求三个具体目标：（1）建立对早期猿化石场地的严格年代学； （2）生成针对未采样的猿类部位的高分辨率古生态重建； （3）在中新世早期记录猿类物种的多样性。化石发掘是在一系列露头上进行的，以更好地记录猿类多样性，地质环境和栖息地参数。该项目在相关地层切片中采用辐射测定法和磁层学（AIM 1）；沉积学，同位素和古生物学分析（AIM 2）；以及新化石猿标本的比较，形态计量和系统发育分析（AIM 3）。这些研究结果的整合可以使研究人员能够将与猿类和人类血统关键特征的出现相关的时间和生态参数背景下背景，并随后解释这些中新世早期的灵长类动物社区如何有助于跨越广泛的地区的灵长类动物的分布。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定宣教和综述的范围，这是通过评估的范围，并且在范围内得到了证明，这是通过构成的支持。