Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Evolutionary Significance of Skeletal Variation in Homo naledi

最近发现的古人类物种Homo naledi给人类进化带来了新的复杂性和新的问题。在这个博士论文项目中，研究人员将使用3D扫描技术来量化骨骼的变化，在一些H。naledi个体，并在更广泛的比较灵长类动物背景下研究结果。除了为H的变异提供进化背景之外。naledi，该项目将突出遗传和骨骼变异之间的关系，在多个尺度，这可能是用来确定生物考古，法医和古人类学组合内的相关个人。该研究将生成三种灵长类物种的数百个3D模型，这些模型将向公众提供，创建可以3D打印并用于课程计划和推广的新教育材料。此外，透过与本地及国际大学的紧密合作，对3D成像感兴趣的本科生将继续参与使用这些扫描的独立研究项目。纳勒迪人是一个小的、孤立的群体的一部分，或者是一个更大的、地理上多样化的物种，可能与现代人有过互动。在本项目中，H. naledi个体将使用五个颅后元素的3D几何形态测量评估进行量化。包含已知和未知生物关系的个体的比较现代人类和黑猩猩样本将被用作基线，以探索多尺度的变化。为此，该项目有三个目标：1）检验现代人类和黑猩猩在群体水平及以下的遗传和形态距离之间存在正相关关系的假设; 2）量化H. naledi，并将其与现代人类和黑猩猩计算的变化进行比较;和3）通过确定H. naledi类似于生物亲属。将评估一些关于种群隔离和相对大小的进化情景，以确定哪种情景最有可能产生H.纳莱迪。在这样做，这个项目将揭示H。naledi的进化历史和H.该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The recent discovery of the hominin species Homo naledi has introduced new complexity and new questions about human evolution. In this doctoral dissertation project, the investigator will use 3D scanning technology to quantify skeletal variation across a number of H. naledi individuals and situate the results in a broader comparative primate context. Beyond providing an evolutionary context for the variation in H. naledi, this project will highlight the relationship between genetic and skeletal variation at multiple scales, which may be used to identify related individuals within bioarchaeological, forensic, and paleoanthropological assemblages. The research will generate hundreds of 3D models of three primate species, which will be made available to the public, creating new educational materials that can be 3D printed and used for lesson plans and outreach. Additionally, through close collaborations with local and international universities, undergraduates with interests in 3D imaging will continue to engage in independent research projects using these scans.It is not known whether the recently discovered H. naledi individuals represent part of a small, isolated population or a larger, geographically diverse species that may have interacted with modern humans. In this project, the variation between H. naledi individuals will be quantified using 3D geometric morphometric assessment of five postcranial elements. Comparative modern human and chimpanzee samples containing individuals of known and unknown biological relationships will be used as baselines to explore variation at multiple scales. To this end, this project has three objectives: 1) to test the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between genetic and morphological distance at and below the population level in modern humans and chimpanzees; 2) to quantify the variation within H. naledi and compare it to the variation calculated for modern humans and chimpanzees; and 3) to contextualize this variation by determining the extent to which H. naledi resembles biological relatives. A number of evolutionary scenarios concerning population isolation and relative size will be evaluated to determine which scenario most likely produced the variation seen in H. naledi. In so doing, this project will shed light on H. naledi’s evolutionary history and the possibility of interaction between H. naledi and modern humans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.