DDI--Cranial variation in Homo erectus

传统上，直立人包括来自中国，印度尼西亚和东非的1-2百万年前的化石。 来自非洲和欧洲的新标本的发现重新将科学的注意力集中在这个物种上，突出了我们对这个物种的统一性，这个物种的特定标本的归属以及它与后来的物种，包括我们自己的物种的关系的知识的重要空白。 这项研究是一个严格的统计检查颅骨形状的三维（3D）几何形态测量技术。 将使用Microscribe机械数字化仪收集坐标标志数据，并使用一系列统计技术进行分析。本研究将解决的问题包括：直立人的颅骨形状变化与整体身体大小、地理位置和时间有何关系？ 大型直立人和小型直立人的头骨形状相似吗？ 非洲和亚洲的直立人头骨形状相似吗？ 如果颅骨形状存在地理差异，这些差异是随着距离的增加而逐渐增加，还是存在明显的不连续性？ 早期和晚期直立人的头骨形状有多相似？ 随着时间的推移，颅骨形状是逐渐改变还是突然改变？ 这些问题的答案将有助于我们更好地了解直立人在人类历史中的地位。 此外，这些问题的答案与这组化石的分类位置直接相关。一些作者将它们都包括在智人中，另一些人则将它们包括在单一物种直立人中，还有一些人认为这一群体中有多个物种。根据Mayr的生物物种概念，并使用基于现代人类，黑猩猩和旧大陆猴（以及化石Theropithecus狒狒和傍人）的物种内和物种之间的预期变化模型，本研究将明确评估这些早中更新世化石人类的系统位置。这项研究的结果将适用于其他系统的，分类学和古生物学的研究，这项研究的更广泛的影响，包括促进妇女在科学，促进国际合作，增强数据库的几何形态测量数据，和国际转让的几何形态测量技术。 这项研究构成了共同主要研究者的博士论文研究;完成这项研究和她的博士学位将增加妇女在科学领域的代表性。 这项研究促进了国际联系和合作，这在当代古人类学研究中越来越必要，这越来越多地由多国团队进行。 NYCEP几何形态测量学小组将小组成员收集的所有数据数据进行数据库化，以便将来进行重新分析和研究;本研究中收集的数据将添加到该数据库中。 最后，虽然几何形态测量技术正在得到更广泛的使用，但它们仍然相对较新。 共同主要研究者将在她的国际旅行中展示它们的使用，从而增加全球科学知识并建立基础设施。人类古生物学的工作成果引起了公众的广泛兴趣，并将在技术和大众出版物上广泛传播。

Homo erectus traditionally includes fossils dating between 1-2 million years ago from sites in China, Indonesia, and East Africa. The discovery of new specimens from Africa and Europe has refocused scientific attention on this species, highlighting important gaps in our knowledge of the unity of this species, the attribution of particular specimens to this species, and its relation to later species, including our own. This study is a rigorous statistical examination of cranial shape using the techniques of three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometrics. Coordinate landmark data will be collected with a Microscribe mechanical digitizer and analyzed with an array of statistical techniques. Questions that this study will address include: How is cranial shape variation in Homo erectus related to overall body size, geography, and time? Do large and small Homo erectus individuals have similar cranial shapes? Do Homo erectus individuals from Africa and Asia have similar cranial shape? If there are geographic differences in cranial shape, do these differences gradually increase with distance, or is there a sharp discontinuity? How similar are earlier and later Homo erectus in cranial shape? Over time, does cranial shape change gradually or abruptly? The answers to these questions resulting from this study will help us to better understand the place of Homo erectus in human history. Moreover, the answers to these questions are directly related to the taxonomic placement of this set of fossils. Some authors have included them all in Homo sapiens, other in the single species Homo erectus and still others have recognized multiple species within this group. Following Mayr's biological species concept, and using models of expected variation within and between species based on modern humans, chimpanzees and Old World monkeys (as well as fossil Theropithecus baboons and Paranthropus), this study will explicity evaluate the systematic placement of these Early-Middle Pleistocene fossil humans. The results of this research will be applicable to other systematic, taxonomic and paleontological studies.The broader impacts of this study include promotion of women in science, fostering of international collaboration, an enhanced database of geometric morphometric data, and the international transfer of geometric morphometric techniques. This study constitutes the co-PI's doctoral dissertation research; completion of this research and her doctorate will increase female representation in the sciences. This study promotes international ties and collaboration, increasingly necessary in the contemporary paleoanthropological research, which is increasingly conducted by multi-national teams. The NYCEP Geometric Morphometrics group databases all data collected by members of the group for future re-analysis and study; the data collected in this study will be added to that database. Finally, while geometric morphometric techniques are enjoying more widespread use, they are still relatively new. The co-PI will demonstrate their use during her international travels and thereby increase global scientific knowledge and build infrastructure. The results of work in human paleontology are of broad public interest and will be widely disseminated in both technical and popular publications.