Laetoli's lost tracks: 3D generated mean shape and missing footprints.
Laetoli's lost tracks: 3D generated mean shape and missing footprints.
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DOI：
10.1038/srep21916
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发表时间：
2016-02-23
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Budka M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bennett MR;Reynolds SC;Morse SA;Budka M
Laetoli遗址（坦桑尼亚）包含了已知最古老的人类足迹，尽管经过了35年的研究，但对它们的解释仍然存在争议。两个人的足迹是相互平行的，其中一个是由至少两个人排成一列行走形成的复合体。大多数研究人员都集中在单一的，清晰可辨的G1轨道，而G2/3轨道已在很大程度上被解雇，由于其复合性质。在这里，我们报告使用一种新的技术，使我们能够解耦的G2和G3轨道的第一次。这样，我们就能够量化G3轨道的平均足迹拓扑结构，并使其可用于后续的数据分析。通过恢复实际上“丢失”的G3轨道，我们已经将与上新世祖先直接相关的一些最稀有的痕迹的可用数据增加了一倍。
The Laetoli site (Tanzania) contains the oldest known hominin footprints, and their interpretation remains open to debate, despite over 35 years of research. The two hominin trackways present are parallel to one another, one of which is a composite formed by at least two individuals walking in single file. Most researchers have focused on the single, clearly discernible G1 trackway while the G2/3 trackway has been largely dismissed due to its composite nature. Here we report the use of a new technique that allows us to decouple the G2 and G3 tracks for the first time. In so doing we are able to quantify the mean footprint topology of the G3 trackway and render it useable for subsequent data analyses. By restoring the effectively ‘lost’ G3 track, we have doubled the available data on some of the rarest traces directly associated with our Pliocene ancestors.