Renewed Paleoanthropological Research in the Laetoli Area, Tanzania

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，这一研究领域引起了科学界和公众的极大兴趣。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。这些化石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，它们为解释重大进化事件发生的方式和原因提供了背景证据。该项目将在非洲最重要的古人类遗址之一Laetoli进行古生物学和地质调查，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)对Laetolil下层地层（385万至500万年前）的探索有可能产生早期古人类（人类进化谱系中已灭绝的成员），这可能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)在Laetolil上地层（距今360万~ 385万年前）发现的新古人类化石将有助于更好地了解早期古人类物种南方古猿阿法种的解剖学、古生物学和关系；(3)在Ndolanya上地层（266万年前）发现的新古人类，将有助于我们进一步认识埃塞俄比亚傍人（Paranthropus aethiopicus）这一已灭绝的人类分支，并为理解南方古猿灭绝的时间和环境因素以及傍人与人属（Homo，人类所属的属）的分化提供重要线索；(4)详细的古生态评估有助于更好地了解Laetoli古人类的栖息地偏好和生态环境，并为更广泛地评估东非栖息地多样性和环境变化提供基础。该项目为坦桑尼亚的古人类学学生培训、研究和教育基础设施支持提供了独特的机会，为美国研究人员扩展其与不同学科和国家的科学家和机构的学术联系网络提供了重要机会，并为向更广泛的公众推广人类进化研究提供了工具。

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.