Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: The Paleoecology of the Pleistocene Upper Busidima Formation, Gona, Ethiopia

最近的假说强调了环境和气候变化作为原始人类进化驱动力的作用。 准确和精确的重建原始人类的古环境是必要的，以测试这些假设。 该项目旨在重建更新世上Busidima组的戈纳古人类学研究项目研究区（阿法尔洼地，埃塞俄比亚）的古生态学，在当地规模必要的解决假设的微生境异质性。 在这样做的过程中，这项研究将导致以前未描述的动物区系材料的数据，并创建一个生态框架的解释更普遍的上布西迪马和阿法尔地区的人科生物和技术进化。 上布西迪马组的古生态将根据以下指标，在三个临时一揽子计划中对40个地点进行定性：（1）对700个未发表的脊椎动物化石进行了分类鉴定和描述;（2）根据牙釉质的中膜分析和稳定同位素分析重建了牛科动物的古食性;（3）通过化石生物标志物的生物标志物分析和成土碳酸盐的稳定同位素分析重建了古植被。 这些数据将结合使用地理信息系统（GIS）软件，以分析在古生态的空间和时间模式，并评估多个古环境指标之间的一致性。 这种方法将提供一个采样时间差的古生态数据，研究古环境重建的方法学问题，并重新计算上布西迪马组。在更新世东非更大的生态背景下。 该项目的成果将通过提供新的动物区系材料供比较而与广泛的古人类学研究相关。 多种环境指标的比较将大大推进古环境研究。 此外，本研究强调了GIS在记录、分析和可视化古生态数据方面的实用性。最后，这里提出的研究代表了非洲（埃塞俄比亚）和美国研究人员之间建立国际研究伙伴关系的重要一步，并将有助于发展美国（印第安纳州大学人类学和地质科学系，亚利桑那大学地质系）和埃塞俄比亚（埃塞俄比亚国家博物馆）科学机构之间的基础设施。 由于共同主要研究者（埃弗雷特）是一个代表性不足的少数群体（女性西班牙裔），因此本研究将是一个重要的机会，可以增加该群体在高级科学研究中的代表性，并为她的研究生涯提供一个发展平台。 这项重要研究的结果将向广大公众传播，广泛出版，并纳入一些课程的教学大纲。 这项研究的结果将有助于公众了解人类对长期环境变化的适应和反应，以及环境变化对人类的潜在影响。

Recent hypotheses have emphasized the roles of environmental and climatic variations as driving forces in hominid evolution. Accurate and precise reconstructions of hominid paleoenvironments are necessary to test such hypotheses. This project intends to reconstruct the paleoecology of the Pleistocene upper Busidima Formation of the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project study area (Afar Depression, Ethiopia), at the locality scale necessary to address hypotheses of microhabitat heterogeneity. In doing so, this study will result in data on previously undescribed faunal material and create an ecological framework for the interpretation of hominid biological and technological evolution in the upper Busidima and Afar region more generally. The paleoecology of the upper Busidima Fm. will be characterized for 40 individual localities across three temporal packages, based on the following indicators: (1) taxonomic identification and description of 700 unpublished vertebrate fossils, (2) reconstruction of bovid paleodiets based on mesowear analysis and stable isotope analysis of tooth enamel, and (3) paleovegetation reconstruction via biomarker analysis of fossil biomarkers and stable isotope analysis of pedogenic carbonates. These data will be combined using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to analyze spatial and temporal patterns in paleoecology, and assess concordance among multiple paleoenvironmental indicators. This approach will provide paleoecological data for a poorly sampled time period, examine methodological issues in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and situate the upper Busidima Fm. in the larger ecological context of Pleistocene East Africa. The outcome of this project will be relevant to a broad range of paleoanthropological studies by making new faunal material available for comparisons. Comparisons of multiple environmental indicators will significantly advance paleoenvironmental research. In addition, this study highlights the utility of GIS in documenting, analyzing, and visualizing paleoecological data. Finally, the researched proposed here represents an important step in building international research partnerships between African (Ethiopian) and U.S. researchers, and will help develop infrastructure among scientific institutions in the U.S. (Anthropology and Geological Sciences Departments at Indiana University, and Geology Department at the University of Arizona) and Ethiopia (National Museum of Ethiopia). As the co-PI (Everett) is an underrepresented minority (female Hispanic), this study will be a critical opportunity to increase representation of this group in advanced scientific research and provide a platform for development of her research career. The results of this important research will be disseminated to the broader public, published widely and integrated into teaching curricula in a number of courses. The results of this research will be relevant to the general public in helping us understand human adaptation and response to long-term environmental change, and the potential impact of environmental change on human populations.