Paleoanthropological Exploration of the Otavi Mountain Land,Namibia

这项提议的主要目标是继续对纳米比亚北部奥塔维山脉的洞穴矿床进行古生物勘探。在过去的一年里，康罗伊和他的同事们在这一地区发现了已知的第一个来自南部非洲的中新世古人类。这块化石被命名为Otavipithecus，它显示出许多特征，使其有别于欧亚大陆和非洲其他地区其他中新世中期的古人类。通过联想测年，奥塔维比塞克星的年龄在12到14年间。在奥塔维地区还发现了一些其他矿藏，需要系统勘探。在Berg Aukas的奥塔维遗址(中新世和上更新世)发现了三个独立的动物群化石，这将使研究人员能够追踪非洲这一地区的动物群和由此推断的通过雾霾发生的古生态变化。Otavipithecus的发现极大地扩大了这一时期类人族的范围。因此，将东非和/或欧亚大陆视为类人族进化中心的假设可能需要重新评估。有迹象表明，与渐新世和现代纳米比亚的半干旱条件相比，中新世纳米比亚相对潮湿。奥塔维沉积物具有巨大的潜力，可以提供1600万年来南部非洲脊椎动物进化、古气候和生态变化的信息。

The primary objective of this proposal is to continue paleontological exploration of cave deposits in the Otavi Mountains of northern Namibia. During the past year Conroy and colleagues discovered in this area the first Miocene hominoid known from southern Africa. The fossil has been named Otavipithecus and it exhibits a number of features which differentiate it from other middle Miocene hominoids from Eurasia and other areas of Africa. Dating by association places Otavipithecus between 12 and 14 MYA. A number of other deposits have been identified in the Otavi region which require systematic exploration. The discovery of three separate fossil faunas at the Otavi site of Berg Aukas (both Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene) will allow the investigators to track faunal and, by inference, paleoecological changes through rime in this part of Africa. The discovery of Otavipithecus significantly extends the range of hominoids in this time period. As a result hypotheses which view East Africa and/or Eurasia as the foci for hominoid evolution may need to be re-evaluated. Indications are that Miocene Namibia was relatively humid in contrast to the semi-arid conditions of Oligocene and modern Namibia. The Otavi deposits have great potential for providing information on vertebrate evolution and paleoclimate and ecological change in Southern Africa over a span of 16 million years.