Narok Paleontological Survey Project

几十年来，分子研究已经得出结论，人类和类人猿谱系之间的进化分裂发生在中新世晚期，约5-8 ma。直到最近，古生物学的证据才开始为这种分化提供重要的解剖学数据。来自乍得、埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚的化石首次揭示了我们最早的祖先是什么样子，他们生活在哪里，以及进化的力量可能最终导致了我们今天所知道的物种。我们发现这些晚中新世遗迹的沉积层非常罕见，而且很难定位。尽管存在困难和挑战，但它们的产量对重建人类谱系的进化至关重要。这个人类学高风险研究项目是对肯尼亚南部纳罗克周围地区进行系统的古生物学调查。Lemudong'o晚中新世遗址于1995年在该地区被发现，此后发现的化石遗骸表明，在非洲其他地区发现的原始人类栖息地类型（封闭/林地环境）。地质年代学认为该遗址位于6ma。Lemudong'o第1地点是一个非常小的地点，尚未发现人类。对该地区进行基于图像的调查，以定位这些相同沉积物的其他露头，增加发现的化石数量，并增加如果原始人在6年前生活在该地区的可能性，如果他们被保存在这些沉积物中，现在可以找到一些遗骸。虽然这个调查项目是高风险的，但考虑到最近在该地区发现的晚中新世矿床，所提议的活动的智力价值和成功的潜力是很高的。小组成员在Lemudong'o 1号地点及其周边地区进行了大量研究。因此，我们已经了解了地质、地形、当地人，也许最重要的是，了解了适用于图像导向调查方法的地面真相。卫星和其他基于图像的调查方法已被证明是非常成功的，PI在与埃塞俄比亚的同事一起使用这种方法方面具有丰富的经验。拟议的活动所产生的更广泛的影响涵盖了整个生物科学和地质学以及广大公众。发现晚中新世古人类沉积物的成功将立即对已知的早期古人类地理和生物变异范围作出重大贡献。仅仅一颗牙齿就能揭示出埃塞俄比亚和乍得的晚中新世古人类与肯尼亚北部地区的古人类在形态上的明显差异。除了原始人之外，还将发现许多化石，为脊椎动物古生物学领域做出贡献。将与该调查项目一起进行的地质工作有助于对裂谷系统和大陆板块构造的模式和过程有更深入的了解。最后，人类生物学植根于进化。我们对我们进化的动物了解得越多，我们就越能更好地理解我们的现代生物学和生物变异，其影响从生物医学进步到社会政治。

Molecular studies have concluded for decades that the evolutionary split between the human and great ape lineages occurred during the Late Miocene, c. 5-8 ma. Only recently has the paleontological evidence started to provide significant anatomical data about this divergence. Fossils from Chad, Ethiopia, and Kenya shed the first light on what our earliest ancestors were like, where they lived, and what the evolutionary forces may have been that ultimately resulted in the species we know today. The sedimentary deposits in which we find these Late Miocene remains are rare and difficult to locate. Despite the difficulty and challenges, their yields are of critical importance to reconstructing the evolution of the human lineage. This High Risk Research in Anthropology project is a systematic paleontological survey of the area around Narok, in southern Kenya. The Late Miocene site of Lemudong'o was discovered in this region in 1995 and has since yielded fossil remains suggesting the type of habitat in which hominids are found in other areas of Africa (closed/woodland environment). Geochronology places the site securely at 6 ma. Lemudong'o Locality 1 is a very small site and has not yet yielded hominids. An imagery-based survey of the region is proposed to locate additional outcrops of these same sediments, increasing the number of fossils recovered and increasing the likelihood that if hominids lived in this area 6 ma, and if they were preserved in these sediments, some of their remains can now be found.Though this survey project is high-risk, the intellectual merit of the proposed activity and the potential for success is high given the recent documentation of Late Miocene-aged deposits in the area. The team members have done considerable research at Lemudong'o Locality 1 and the immediately surrounding area. Therefore, we already have an understanding of the geology, terrain, local people, and perhaps most importantly, ground truth to apply to an imagery-directed survey approach. Satellite and other imagery-based survey approaches have proven to be highly successful and the PI has considerable experience working with this approach with colleagues in Ethiopia.The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity span throughout the biological sciences and geology to the general public at large. Success in finding hominid-bearing Late Miocene sediments will immediately contribute significantly to the known range in geography and biological variation of early hominids. Just one tooth would shed light on the apparent morphological differences between the Late Miocene hominids of Ethiopia and Chad compared to those from more northern sites in Kenya. Many fossils aside from hominids will be recovered, contributing to the field of vertebrate paleontology. The geological work that will take place in conjunction with this survey project contributes to the larger understanding of rift valley systems and the patterns and process of continental plate tectonics. And finally, human biology is rooted in evolution. The more we understand about the animals through which we evolved, the better we understand our modern biology and biological variation, with an impact that reaches from biomedical advances to sociopolitics.