EAGER: Exploration of Late Miocene Strata in a Critical Fossil Gap of the Hominoid Record: the Red Series of Northern Afar, Ethiopia

在人形类记录的关键化石空隙中勘探晚中新世地层：埃塞俄比亚阿法尔北部的红色系列PI：乔纳森·G·韦恩南佛罗里达大学地质学系这项研究的目的是探索埃塞俄比亚阿法尔地区北部有记录的少量沉积物，以寻找现在被认为是古生物学研究中的关键时期的古气候记录。这一古气候记录将跨越中新世晚期，科学界对此很感兴趣，因为最近的古生物发现揭示了对类人猿和人类进化模式的新理解。据报道，最近在地层中发现了三个类人猿化石，这一间隔以前被古人类学称为中新世的化石类人猿间隙。这些和其他最近的发展将晚中新世带入了人类进化研究的前沿，努力将已知的化石记录与基于分子的假说相一致，即在这一时期类人猿和人类分支之间的分裂。埃塞俄比亚北部阿法尔地区红色系列的沉积物跨越了这一年龄范围，但自20世纪60年代提出板块构造理论的早期工作以来，一直没有进行任何详细的勘探。因此，我们将从这些地层中产生的古代气候和环境的记录将立即与当前的人类起源研究相关。这一记录还将能够在这一关键地质区间提供潜在的未来大陆钻探地点，这类机构现在正在提供我们祖先进化的沉积盆地中第四纪古环境变化的高分辨率记录。这项由SGER拨款资助的探索性工作将为可能从根本上改变我们对早期人类进化关键阶段的理解的工作奠定基础。我们将更好地了解导致类人猿和人类分支分裂的环境条件，更好地了解欧亚-非洲哺乳动物动物群迁移的关键间隔，并提供潜在的大陆钻探地点，旨在了解古气候变化在人类进化过程中的作用。该项目由SGP计划和国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)联合资助。

Exploration of Late Miocene Strata in a Critical Fossil Gap of the Hominoid Record: the Red Series of Northern Afar, EthiopiaPI: Jonathan G. WynnUniversity of South Florida,Department of GeologyThe purpose of this research is to explore little documented sediments in the northern Afar Region of Ethiopia for a paleoclimatic record from what is now recognized as a critical interval in paleobiology research. This paleoclimatic record will span the Late Miocene epoch, which is of contemporary interest the scientific community because of recent paleontological discoveries that have revealed new understanding of patterns of ape and human evolution. Three recent discoveries of fossil hominoids have been reported from strata representing an interval previously known to paleoanthropology as the fossil ape gap in the Miocene. These and other recent developments have brought the Late Miocene to the forefront of human evolutionary studies in efforts to reconcile the known fossil record with molecular-based hypotheses of the split between the ape and human clades during this interval. Sediments of the Red Series in the northern Afar region of Ethiopia span this age range, but have not been explored in any detail since early work that advanced the theory of plate tectonics during the 1960s. Hence, the record of ancient climate and environment that we will produce from these strata will be immediately relevant to current human origins research. This record will also be able to provide potential future continental drilling sites in this critical geological interval, the likes of which are now providing high resolution records of Quaternary paleoenvironmental change in the sedimentary basins in which our ancestors evolved. The exploratory work funded by this SGER grant will set the stage for work that may radically change our understanding of the critical stages of early hominin evolution. We will better understand the environmental conditions which led to the split between the ape and human clades, better understand a critical interval for Eurasian-African mammalian faunal migration, and provide potential sites for continental drilling that will be aimed at understanding the role of paleoclimatic change in the course of human evolution. This project is jointly funded by the SGP Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).