Dissertation Research: Plio/Pleistocene Carnivoran Guilds: Implications for Hominid Paleoecology

许多人类学家认为， 在人类进化中扮演着重要的角色，如捕食者，竞争者， 和屠体供应商 然而，这些细节 关系仍然模糊，主要是因为缺乏 关于灭绝物种生态适应性的定量研究 食肉动物 本研究从功能形态学和行业协会两个方面， 大型食肉动物的结构将大大改善 我们关于人科食肉动物的推论的性质 非洲上新世-更新世的相互作用 研究生 学生将测试有关的关键行为的假设， 捕食者，例如它们在树上隐藏猎物的能力， 大型猎物，以及被猎杀的猎物。 具有重要意义 原始人类进化研究，因为它将填补重要的 我们祖先的古生态学信息

Many anthropologists have suggested that carnivores played an important role in human evolution, as predators, competitors, and carcass providers. However, the details of these relationships remain fuzzy, largely because of a dearth of quantitative work on the ecological adaptations of the extinct carnivores. This research in the functional morphology and guild structure of large bodied carnivores will greatly improve the quality of our inferences concerning hominid-carnivore interactions in the African Plio-Pleistocene. The graduate student will test hypotheses concerning critical behaviors of the predators, such as their ability to cache prey in trees, kill large prey, and scavenge from kills. It is significant to hominid evolutionary studies because it will fill in significant information on the paleoecology of our ancestors.