Paleoanthropological Investigation of Miocene to Pliocene Primate-Bearing Deposits at Sahabi and Jabal Zaltan in Eastern Libya: Fossil Collection, Age and Environmental Context

对利比亚东部萨哈比和贾巴尔扎尔坦的中新世至上新世灵长类动物沉积物的古人类学调查：化石收集、年龄和环境背景

• 批准号: 0515591
• 负责人: Brenda Benefit
• 金额: $ 4万
• 依托单位: New Mexico State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-01 至 2007-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0515591&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Paleoanthropological; Investigation; Miocene; Pliocene; Primate

This award will initiate interdisciplinary and multinational paleoanthropological field work at the Miocene fossil sites of Jabal Zaltan and Qasr as-Sahabi in eastern Libya. Research here can help to answer such long-standing questions of broad evolutionary biological import as whether the African ape-human clade had an African versus Eurasian origin, what environmental context hominid bipedalism evolved in, and what morphological and species-level transformations occurred in higher primate and other vertebrate taxa in response to the formation of the Sahara Desert and the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea at the end of the Miocene. Major goals of the eight-week long field season funded by this award are to improve the current record of Miocene primates and other vertebrate fossils from the early Miocene to early Pliocene of North Africa, and to produce the first paleomagnetic record of reversals throughout the Zaltan and Sahabi sequences allowing the confirmation and refinement of current biostratigraphic dating of the deposits. Because the age of one of the oldest possible ancestors of bipedal hominids, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, is dated based on biostratigraphic correlation of the Toros-Menalla Formation to Sahabi, determining the precise age of the Sahabi deposits will provide the first independent evidence of the age of this important ancestor. Documenting faunal succession throughout the 20-4 MA time period in North Africa will represent a major contribution to understanding the impact of global climate change on patterns of vertebrate extinction, speciation, biogeography, and adaptation. The broader impact of this project is that it represents the re-initiation of collaborative research between Libyan and American scientists following a 23 year break in diplomatic ties between the two countries. It occurs at a time when improved relations and understanding between Arab countries and the U.S. is critical. It is an extension of research undertaken at Sahabi during the late 1970s and early 1980s and led by Dr. Noel Boaz and Libyan geologists Ali El-Arnauti and the late Wahid Gaziry of Garyounis University in Benghazi. The current project is a major impetus for establishing a program of broad scholarly exchange between New Mexico State University and Garyounis University in Libya, which will begin with paleoanthropology and geology. The exchange will extend to many of NMSU's land grant programs such as agriculture, natural resources, engineering, health, and education. The project will provide training opportunities for students at NMSU, a Hispanic-serving institution with a high percentage of first generation college students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

该奖项将在利比亚东部Jabal Zaltan和Qasr as-Saudi的中新世化石遗址开展跨学科和多国古人类学实地工作。这里的研究可以帮助回答长期存在的问题，这些问题涉及广泛的进化生物学意义，例如非洲猿-人分支是否起源于非洲还是欧亚大陆，原始人两足行走是在什么环境背景下进化的，以及形态学和物种-在1960年代末，由于撒哈拉沙漠的形成和地中海的干涸，高等灵长类和其他脊椎动物类群发生了水平上的转变。中新世由该奖项资助的为期八周的野外季节的主要目标是改善从中新世早期到北非上新世早期的中新世灵长类动物和其他脊椎动物化石的现有记录，并产生整个Zaltan和Sainte层序的第一个古地磁反转记录，从而确认和完善当前的沉积物生物地层学年代测定。由于乍得萨赫勒人是最古老的两足人科祖先之一，其年龄是基于托罗斯-梅纳拉组与Sahlas的生物地层对比确定的，因此确定Sahlas沉积物的精确年龄将为这一重要祖先的年龄提供第一个独立的证据。记录整个20-4 MA时间段在北非的动物区系演替将是一个重大贡献，了解全球气候变化对脊椎动物灭绝，物种形成，地理和适应模式的影响。 该项目更广泛的影响是，它代表了利比亚和美国科学家在两国外交关系中断23年后重新启动合作研究。它发生在阿拉伯国家和美国之间改善关系和理解至关重要的时候。这是1970年代末和1980年代初在Saudi进行的研究的延伸，该研究由诺埃尔·博阿兹博士、利比亚地质学家阿里·埃尔-阿尔瑙蒂和班加西Garbagis大学已故的瓦希德·加齐里领导。 目前的项目是建立一个广泛的学术交流计划的主要推动力，新墨西哥州州立大学和利比亚的Garcadis大学，这将开始与古人类学和地质学。该交流将扩展到许多NMSU的土地赠款计划，如农业，自然资源，工程，卫生和教育。该项目将为NMSU的学生提供培训机会，NMSU是一所为西班牙裔服务的机构，第一代大学生中有很高比例来自经济困难的背景。