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.

尽管饮食是人类古生物学的一个主要方面，但人类学家对在最早已知的考古记录之前生活的人类饮食的信息相对较少。 此外，许多用于推断早期人类饮食的工具目前提供了相互矛盾的信息，尤其是关于原本最著名的早期人类物种之一，Australopithecus australopithecus afarensis。这项研究旨在利用化石牙齿的化学成分来隔离这些人类的饮食是否扩大了饮食，以包括源自稀树草原的食物，例如从这些植物中得出的热带草，莎草和/或动物食物，这些食物留在化石中留下独特的化学“签名”。这种饮食宽广的含义对于了解A. farensis是否可以使用这种食物在开放的Savanna栖息地中生存至关重要，这使它们比其他相关灵长类动物在过去几百万年内在非洲传播期间具有优势。借助NSF的资金，研究人员将在埃塞俄比亚的Hadar和Dikika地区发现的博物馆菜和其他化石哺乳动物中的化石牙釉质进行取样，并衡量其化学和同位素组成，以限制其杂物及其周边研究的饮食，以限制我们的国际博物馆的饮食。埃塞俄比亚及以后的公共宣传和教育场所。这项工作将为两名研究生提供研究生培训，并通过当地的解释中心为外展提供材料。项目结果将在人类起源研究所和加利福尼亚科学院的网站上得到支持，在那里，有关古代人类生活的科学问题是通过中学教育社区解释的。