Pliocene Paleontology and Geology of the Middle Awash Valley Ethiopia

摘要P.I.Tim White SBR-9318698不久前，南部非洲的古生物工作确立了南方古猿作为人类家族祖先的地位，并揭示了早期人类化石记录的广泛多样性。随后在东非的奥杜瓦伊峡谷(Leakey‘s)和其他地方，包括Hadar(Johansen)的工作，扩大了早期原始人的已知地理和时间分布，并导致人们认识到更大的多样性和复杂性。埃塞俄比亚的中阿瓦什是非洲大陆研究人类起源和进化的最重要的自然实验室，其岩石跨越了晚中新世至晚更新世。这里的数据涉及广泛的问题，如过去500万年来原始人进化的速度和模式，石器技术和生存模式的起源和进化，以及全球气候变化和原始人进化事件之间的关系。这个杰出团队的早期工作表明，泛滥盆地提供了生命随时间推移的‘快照’，而不是连续的含有沉积物的化石序列。他们发现了各种新的考古发现和脊椎动物化石，包括跨越350万年的六个不同时间范围的早期原始人遗骸。研究的调查阶段即将结束，现在有可能将人类进化研究中正在进行的问题与这个丰富而复杂的信息库的资源相匹配。这项由这笔赠款支持的工作将对三组上新世人类沉积进行研究，这些沉积已经产生了一些非常有趣的早期人类化石。田野工作将在关键问题上提供关键数据-1)已知的最早的原始人，2)南方古猿的骨骼生物学，以及人属的起源。到目前为止，古生物学家一直无法解决这些问题，因为化石和上下文数据集不足，该网站将提供这些数据集。该项目在培训和与来自不发达国家的专业人员合作方面也有着无与伦比的记录。*P\anthro\jfred\9318698.abs)R t U W‘)！D))(Times New Roman符号&amp；Arial___^“h(4%54%-4%#i=Jonathan Friedlaender Jonathan Friedlaender

ABSTRACT P.I. Tim White SBR- 9318698 Some time ago, paleontological work in southern Africa established Australopithecus as an ancestor of the human family and also revealed extensive diversity in the early human fossil record. Subsequent work in eastern Africa at Olduvai Gorge (the Leakey's) and elsewhere, including Hadar (Johansen), extended the known geographic and temporal distributions of early hominids and led to the recognition of even greater diversity and complexity. The Middle Awash in Ethiopia, with rocks spanning the Late Miocene through Late Pleistocene, is the continent's most important natural laboratory for the study of human origins and evolution. Data from here bear on issues as wide-ranging as the tempo and mode of hominid evolution across the last five million years, the origins and evolution of stone tool technology and subsistence patterns, and the relationships between global climate change and events in hominid evolution. The earlier work of this outstanding team has shown that the Awash basin provides 'snapshots' of life through time rather than a continuous succession of fossil bearing sediments. They have discovered a variety of new archaeological occurrences and fossil vertebrates, including early hominid remains from six separate time horizons spanning 3.5 million years. The survey phase of the research is drawing to a close, and it is now possible to match ongoing problems in human evolutionary studies with the resources of this rich and complex repository. The work to be supported by this grant will work on three sets of hominid-bearing Pliocene deposits, whic h have already yielded some very interesting early hominid fossils. The fieldwork will contribute critical data on key issues - 1) the earliest known hominids, 2) the skeletal biology of Australopithecus afarensis, and the origin of the genus Homo. To date, paleontologists have been unable to resolve these issues because of inadequate fossil and contextual data sets, which this site will provide. This project also has an unparalleled record of training of, and collaboration with, professionals from an undeveloped country. *** P\anthro\jfried\9318698.abs ) r t U W ' ) ! ! ! ! D ) ) ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial _ _ _ _ _ ^ " h (4 %54 %-4 % # I = Jonathan Friedlaender Jonathan Friedlaender