A Biogeochemical Study of the Diet of Australopithecus Afarensis

南方古猿阿法种饮食的生物地球化学研究

• 批准号: 1064030
• 负责人: Jonathan Wynn
• 金额: $ 7.94万
• 依托单位: University of South Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-03-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1064030&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Biogeochemical; Study; Diet; Australopithecus; Afarensis

Although diet is a major aspect of human paleobiology, anthropologists have comparatively little information about the diets of hominins that lived prior to the earliest known archeological record. Furthermore, many of the tools used to infer diets of early hominins currently provide conflicting information, particularly regarding one of the otherwise best-known early hominin species, Australopithecus afarensis. This study aims to use the chemical composition of fossil teeth to isolate whether these hominins broadened their diet to include foods derived from savannas such as tropical grasses, sedges, and/or animals foods derived from these plants, which leave distinct chemical "signature" preserved in fossils. The implications of this dietary broadening are significant for understanding whether A. afarensis could have used such foods to survive in open savanna habitats giving them an advantage over other related primates during the spread of savannas in Africa during the past several million years. With NSF funding, the researchers will sample fossil tooth enamel from museum samples of A. afarensis and other fossil mammals found in the Hadar and Dikika areas in Ethiopia, and measure its chemical and isotopic composition to constrain the diets of A. afarensis and its surrounding ecological community.The proposed research will involve international collaborations between US academic institutions and the National Museum of Ethiopia, which provides a venue for public outreach and education within Ethiopia and beyond. This work will provide graduate training for two graduate students and material for outreach through a local interpretive center. Project results will be supported on websites of the Institute of Human Origins and California Academy of Sciences, where scientific issues regarding ancient human life are interpreted for the public and primary through secondary educational communities.

虽然饮食是人类古生物学的一个主要方面，但人类学家对生活在已知最早的考古记录之前的原始人的饮食信息相对较少。 此外，许多用来推断早期人类饮食的工具目前提供了相互矛盾的信息，特别是关于最著名的早期人类物种之一，南方古猿阿法种。这项研究的目的是利用化石牙齿的化学成分来分离这些古人类是否扩大了他们的饮食，包括来自热带草原的食物，如热带草，莎草和/或来自这些植物的动物食物，这些植物留下了独特的化学“签名”保存在化石中。这种饮食范围的扩大对于理解A.在过去的几百万年里，在非洲大草原的扩张过程中，阿法种可能利用这些食物在开阔的大草原栖息地生存，这使它们比其他相关的灵长类动物具有优势。在NSF的资助下，研究人员将从博物馆的A. afarensis和其他在埃塞俄比亚Hadar和Dikika地区发现的化石哺乳动物，并测量其化学和同位素组成，以限制A.拟议的研究将涉及美国学术机构和埃塞俄比亚国家博物馆之间的国际合作，该博物馆为埃塞俄比亚内外的公共宣传和教育提供了场所。这项工作将为两名研究生提供研究生培训，并通过当地的口译中心提供外展材料。项目成果将在人类起源研究所和加州科学院的网站上得到支持，在这些网站上，向公众和中小学教育界解释有关古代人类生活的科学问题。