Collaborative Research: The geological and paleoecological contexts of early Miocene hominoid evolution

合作研究：早期中新世人科动物进化的地质和古生态背景

• 批准号: 2123497
• 负责人: Kieran McNulty
• 金额: $ 28.08万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2123497&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; geological; paleoecological; contexts

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project examines the roles of time and environment in the adaptive evolution of early apes by advancing knowledge about the chronology, paleoecology, and species diversity for a set of geographically restricted fossil localities. The research design includes a series of fossil excavations to uncover new evidence of early apes and their habitats, combined with laboratory analyses designed to aid in synthesizing and interpreting these discoveries. The scientific importance of this project lies in documenting early ape adaptive diversity within specific, highly-resolved chronological and ecological contexts, with major downstream implications for interpreting the origin and diversification of later apes, including hominins. More broadly, this project expands participation in research through training opportunities targeted to underrepresented groups, enhances scientific infrastructure by digitizing invaluable but currently inaccessible field records, and increases public engagement with science through outreach activities aimed at museums and public schools. Fossil and molecular evidence indicate that the major lineages of humans and apes diverged during the early Miocene (ca. 23-16 Ma). The diversity of ape species and adaptations during that time greatly exceeds modern variation in this group making it difficult to interpret the evolutionary sequence and ecological contexts in which the suite of features shared by living apes and humans appeared. This project is organized around the central question: Are differences among early apes tied to differences in paleoenvironments, ages, or both? To clarify these relationships, researchers pursue three specific aims: (1) establishing a rigorous chronology of early ape fossil sites; (2) generating high-resolution paleoecological reconstructions for undersampled ape localities; and (3) documenting the diversity of ape species during the early Miocene. Fossil excavations are conducted at a series of outcrops to better document ape diversity, geological contexts, and habitat parameters. The project employs radiometric and magnetostratigraphy at correlated stratigraphic sections (Aim 1); sedimentological, isotopic, and paleontological analyses (Aim 2); and comparative, morphometric, and phylogenetic analyses of new fossil ape specimens (Aim 3). Integration of these study results can enable the researchers to contextualize the timing and ecological parameters associated with the emergence of key characteristics in the ape and human lineage, and to subsequently interpret how these early Miocene primate communities contributed to the distribution of primates across broad regions.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.

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。该项目通过对一组地理上受限制的化石地点的年代学、古生态学和物种多样性的了解，研究时间和环境在早期猿类适应性进化中的作用。研究设计包括一系列化石挖掘，以发现早期猿类及其栖息地的新证据，并结合旨在帮助综合和解释这些发现的实验室分析。该项目的科学重要性在于记录早期猿类适应性多样性在特定的，高度分辨率的时间和生态背景下，与下游的解释后来的猿类，包括人类的起源和多样化的重大影响。更广泛地说，该项目通过为代表性不足的群体提供培训机会，扩大对研究的参与，通过将宝贵但目前无法获得的实地记录数字化，加强科学基础设施，并通过针对博物馆和公立学校的外联活动，增加公众对科学的参与。化石和分子证据表明，人类和猿类的主要谱系在中新世早期（约2000年）分化。23-16 Ma）。猿类物种的多样性和适应性在这段时间大大超过了现代的变化，这使得很难解释的进化序列和生态环境中的一套共同的功能，生活猿和人类出现。这个项目是围绕着一个中心问题组织的：早期猿类之间的差异是否与古环境、年龄或两者的差异有关？为了澄清这些关系，研究人员追求三个具体目标：（1）建立早期猿化石遗址的严格年表;（2）为采样不足的猿地点生成高分辨率的古生态重建;（3）记录中新世早期猿物种的多样性。化石挖掘是在一系列露头处进行的，以更好地记录猿类多样性、地质背景和栖息地参数。该项目采用放射性和磁性地层学在相关的地层剖面（目标1）;沉积学，同位素和古生物学分析（目标2）;和比较，形态测量，和新的化石猿标本的系统发育分析（目标3）。这些研究结果的整合可以使研究人员能够将与猿和人类谱系中关键特征的出现相关的时间和生态参数联系起来，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

项目成果

A neotropical wet-forest snake lineage from the Early Miocene of equatorial Africa: biogeographic and paleoenvironmental implications

赤道非洲早中新世的新热带湿森林蛇谱系：生物地理和古环境影响

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Program and Abstracts
• 作者: Head, Jason;Lawing, M.A.;Manthi, F.K.;Mueller, J.;Cote, S.;Peppe, D.J.;McNulty, K.P.
• 通讯作者: McNulty, K.P.

Reconstructing the climate and ecology of an Early Miocene tropical forest on the flanks of the Tinderet Volcano, Kisumu County, western Kenya

重建肯尼亚西部基苏木县廷德雷火山侧翼早中新世热带森林的气候和生态

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
• 作者: MUNYAKA, Venanzio;OGINGA, Kennedy Ogonda;COTE, Susanne;HEAD, Jason;LUKENS, William;LUTZ, James A;KINYANJUI, Rahab N;MANTHI, Fredrick K;MCNULTY, Kieran P;HALL, Abigail
• 通讯作者: HALL, Abigail

Paleoclimate reconstructions of the Early Miocene hominoid fossil sites from Chamtwara, Legetet and Koru, Tinderet, western Kenya

肯尼亚西部廷德雷特查姆特瓦拉、莱吉特和科鲁早期中新世人科动物化石遗址的古气候重建

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
• 作者: PEPPE, Daniel;MCNULTY, Kieran P;COTE, Susanne;HEAD, Jason;MUNYAKA, Venanzio;OGINGA, Kennedy Ogonda;KINYANJUI, Rahab N;LUKENS, William E;LUTZ, James A;TEGART, Amanda
• 通讯作者: TEGART, Amanda

RECONSTRUCTION OF EARLY MIOCENE PALEOFLORA AND PALEOCLIMATE OF KORU REGION (NYANZA PROVINCE, WESTERN KENYA): IMPLICATIONS FOR EARLY HOMINOID EVOLUTION

科鲁地区（肯尼亚西部尼安萨省）中新世早期古植物群和古气候的重建：对早期人科动物进化的影响

• DOI: 10.1130/abs/2022am-381234
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
• 作者: Munyaka, Venanzio;Oginga, Kennedy Ogonda;Cote, Susanne;Kinyanjui, Rahab N.;Lukens, William E.;Lutz, James A.;McNulty, Kieran P.;Michel, Lauren;Peppe, Daniel
• 通讯作者: Peppe, Daniel