CAREER: Tracking the evolution of human locomotion through field, experimental, and computational analyses of fossil footprints

从四足动物到两足动物的转变，即用两只脚走路，是导致人类出现的进化途径的根源。迄今为止，关于两足动物进化的许多问题仍然没有答案。这个CAREER项目通过分析化石足迹，通过现场，实验和计算方法的结合应用，研究人类两足步行和跑步的进化。向不同教育水平的学生提供古人类学方法方面的培训和实践经验。一个新的课程为基础的本科生研究经验（CURE），结合单独指导的研究经验，为学生提供机会，直接有助于实验室分析是必不可少的项目。通过持续的合作伙伴关系和社区主导的文化遗产博物馆的发展，外展活动吸引了居住在化石足迹遗址附近的社区成员。在第四纪初期，三种化石人类物种--直立人、能人和鲍氏傍人被认为居住在同一片土地上。目前的共识是，他们的共同生活是由不同的适应能力实现的，直立人是唯一一个（也是第一个人类祖先）使用现代人类的行走和奔跑模式。然而，能够说明这一点的化石数据是有限的，解释也是不确定的。该项目的实地挖掘大大增加了可用于测试长期存在的关于人类两足行走进化的假设的数据量。通过实验室实验，新的分析方法被开发出来，将足迹形态与足部形态和生物力学联系起来，从而详细了解化石人类的运动。该项目还推进了寻找、挖掘和分析化石足迹的方法，为这些数据解决人类进化中的主要问题开辟了新的途径。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 shift from quadrupedal to bipedal locomotion, walking on two feet, is at the root of the evolutionary pathway that led to the emergence of humans. To date, many questions regarding the evolution of bipedalism remain unanswered. This CAREER project investigates the evolution of human bipedal walking and running by analyzing fossil footprints through the combined application of field, experimental and computational methods. Training and hands-on experience in paleoanthropological methods are provided to students at different education levels. A new course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), combined with individually mentored research experiences, provide students with opportunities to directly contribute to the laboratory analyses that are essential to the project. Outreach activities engage community members who live in the immediate vicinity of fossil footprint sites, through an ongoing partnership and the development of a community-led cultural heritage museum. At the beginning of the Quaternary Period three fossil hominin species – Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Paranthropus boisei were thought to have inhabited the same landscapes. The current consensus is that their cohabitation was enabled by different sets of adaptations, and that Homo erectus was the only one (and the first human ancestor) to use a modern human-like pattern of walking and running. However, the fossil data that can speak to this are limited and the interpretations inconclusive. The field excavations in this project significantly increase the volume of data available to test long-standing hypotheses about the evolution of human bipedalism. Through laboratory experiments, new analytical methods are developed to relate footprint morphology to foot morphology and biomechanics, allowing for detailed understandings of fossil human locomotion. The project also advances methods for finding, excavating, and analyzing fossil footprints, opening new avenues for these data to address major questions in human evolution.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.