Renewed Paleoanthropological Research in the Laetoli Area, Tanzania

坦桑尼亚莱托利地区古人类学研究的更新

• 批准号: 1350023
• 负责人: Terry Harrison
• 金额: $ 18.1万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-03-01 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1350023&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Renewed; Paleoanthropological; Research; Laetoli; Area

The paleoanthropological study of human evolution is critical for documenting the origins and evolutionary steps that gave rise to our own species. This area of research is of profound interest to the scientific community and to the general public because of the enduring fascination with human origins. One of the most significant contributions to understanding human evolution is the discovery of important new fossils. These provide crucial information to document the various stages of human evolution, but equally importantly provide contextual evidence to explain how and why major evolutionary events took place. This project will renew paleontological and geological investigations at Laetoli, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in Africa, with the goal of contributing new evidence towards a better understanding of the early stages of human evolution. The main goal of the research is to address several critical issues in human evolution: (1) exploration of the Lower Laetolil Beds (3.85 million to older than 5.0 million years ago) has the potential to yield early hominins (extinct members of the human evolutionary lineage) that could contribute important new evidence on the diversity and evolutionary relationships of the earliest representatives of the human lineage; (2) new hominin fossils from the Upper Laetolil Beds (3.6-3.85 million years ago) will lead to a better understanding of the anatomy, paleobiology and relationships of the early hominin species, Australopithecus afarensis; (3) additional hominins from the Upper Ndolanya Beds (2.66 million years ago) will add to our limited appreciation of Paranthropus aethiopicus, the earliest member of an extinct side-branch of the human lineage, and offer important clues to understanding the timing and environmental factors associated with the extinction of Australopithecus and the divergence of Paranthropus and Homo (the genus to which humans belong); and (4) a detailed assessment of the paleoecology will allow a better understanding of the habitat preferences and ecological context of the Laetoli hominins, as well as providing a building block in a broader assessment of habitat diversity and environmental change in East Africa. The project provides unique opportunities for paleoanthropological training of students, research and educational infrastructural support in Tanzania, important opportunities for US researchers to extend their network of academic links to scientists and institutions in different disciplines and countries, and provides a vehicle for the promotion of the study of human evolution to the broader public.

人类进化的古人类学研究对于记录我们自己物种的起源和进化步骤至关重要。 由于对人类起源的持久迷恋，这一研究领域对科学界和公众都具有浓厚的兴趣。 对理解人类进化最重要的贡献之一是发现了重要的新化石。 这些为记录人类进化的各个阶段提供了重要信息，但同样重要的是，它们提供了背景证据，解释了重大进化事件是如何以及为什么发生的。 该项目将在非洲最重要的古人类学遗址之一Laetoli恢复古生物学和地质学调查，目的是为更好地了解人类进化的早期阶段提供新的证据。该研究的主要目标是解决人类进化中的几个关键问题：（1）探索下莱托利尔层（385万年到500万年前）有可能产生早期人类（人类进化谱系中已灭绝的成员），可以为人类谱系最早代表的多样性和进化关系提供重要的新证据;（2）上莱托利尔层的新人类化石（360 - 385万年前）将导致更好地了解解剖学，古生物学和早期人类物种，南方古猿阿法种的关系;（3）恩多兰亚上层的其他古人类（266万年前）将增加我们对埃塞俄比亚傍人（Paranthropus aethiopicus）的有限欣赏，这是人类血统中已灭绝分支的最早成员，并为理解与南方古猿灭绝以及傍人和人属分化有关的时间和环境因素提供了重要线索（人类所属的属）;（4）详细的古生态学评估将有助于更好地了解莱托利人的生境偏好和生态背景，并为东非生境多样性和环境变化的更广泛评估提供了基础。该项目为坦桑尼亚学生的古人类学培训，研究和教育基础设施支持提供了独特的机会，为美国研究人员提供了重要的机会，将其学术联系网络扩展到不同学科和国家的科学家和机构，并为促进人类进化研究提供了一个工具。