Collaborative Research: Comparative morphological analysis of the hand and wrist in Ardipithecus ramidus and Miocene hominoids

合作研究：地猿和中新世原始人的手和腕部的比较形态分析

• 批准号: 1316947
• 负责人: William Jungers
• 金额: $ 1.26万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1316947&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Comparative; morphological; analysis

The 4.4 million year old fossil species Ardipithecus ramidus may represent one of the oldest human ancestors, and it holds potentially critical insights into the initial evolutionary divergence of humans and chimpanzees from their last common ancestor. Establishing the primitive condition (or 'starting point') for that divergence would have transformative implications for nearly every aspect of research on human origins and evolutionary biology. Unexpectedly, the skeleton of Ar. ramidus has been described as differing from that of the living apes more than had been predicted - instead resembling that of more primitive apes from the early Miocene epoch. In particular, some have argued that the hand and wrist retain features related to cautious climbing and palmigrady (use of an extended wrist and weight-bearing palm, adapted for moving above branches). Much of the anatomy, however, has not been examined in a rigorous, quantitative context, and comparisons with Miocene apes have been limited. The project will analyze Ar. ramidus and a broad comparative sample of extant primates and fossil species using three- dimensional (3D) morphometrics to test the hypotheses that: 1) Ar. ramidus used its hands in a manner inconsistent with advanced vertical climbing, suspension, and/or knuckle-walking as used by living apes; and 2) Ar. ramidus is a hominin (i.e., more closely related to humans than chimpanzees). If these hypotheses are upheld, then models of hominin origins cannot assume a highly suspensory or knuckle- walking ancestor, or one that engaged in vigorous vertical climbing. Consequently, explanations for many human adaptations would have to be drastically modified. All metric data and the generated 3D digital models of most specimens will be available via a public online database or provided to museums housing the original material. Importantly, the 3D models constitute a record of irreplaceable fossils and skeletal material from several domestic and international institutions. This award supports early-career scientists, including one Asian American principal investigator (PI), and one of the co-PIs will foster collaboration between American and Spanish researchers. Finally, the project provides vital opportunities for students to learn skills in anatomical imaging and computer modeling, which are indispensable in the basic sciences and biomedicine.

440万年前的化石物种Ardipithecus ramidus可能是最古老的人类祖先之一，它对人类和黑猩猩从最后一个共同祖先开始的最初进化分歧具有潜在的关键见解。建立这种分歧的原始条件（或“起点”）将对人类起源和进化生物学研究的几乎每一个方面产生变革性的影响。出乎意料的是，Ar的骨架。ramidus被描述为与现存猿类的差异比预测的要大--相反，它类似于中新世早期的原始猿类。特别是，有些人认为手和手腕保留了与谨慎攀爬和手掌偏移（使用伸展的手腕和承重的手掌，适合在树枝上移动）有关的特征。然而，大部分的解剖结构还没有经过严格的定量研究，与中新世猿类的比较也很有限。该项目将分析Ar。ramidus和广泛的现存灵长类动物和化石物种的比较样本，使用三维（3D）形态测量学来测试假设：1）Ar。ramidus使用其手的方式不一致的先进的垂直攀登，悬挂，和/或关节行走的生活猿;和2）Ar。Ramidus是古人类（即，比黑猩猩更接近人类）。如果这些假说成立，那么古人类起源的模型就不能假定他们是一个高度悬吊或关节行走的祖先，也不能假定他们是一个从事剧烈垂直攀爬的祖先。因此，对许多人类适应性的解释必须彻底修改。 大多数标本的所有度量数据和生成的3D数字模型将通过公共在线数据库提供，或提供给收藏原始材料的博物馆。重要的是，这些3D模型记录了来自多个国内和国际机构的不可替代的化石和骨骼材料。该奖项支持早期职业科学家，包括一名亚裔美国人首席研究员（PI），其中一名联合PI将促进美国和西班牙研究人员之间的合作。最后，该项目为学生提供了学习解剖成像和计算机建模技能的重要机会，这些技能在基础科学和生物医学中不可或缺。