Multidisciplinary research investigating the geographic origins of the African apes and humans

这项研究旨在验证这样一个假设，即非洲猿类和人类的祖先曾在欧洲生活过一段时间，并在那里进化出导致现代猿类和人类血统的关键适应。它的4个主要组成部分是挖掘、化石分析、同位素地球化学和勘察。我们在匈牙利北部的Rudabánya(R II)主要地区发现了一个富含脊椎动物化石的骨床，其中包括灵长类动物。我们发现了两具类人猿骨骼的一部分，保存完好的原始卡他龙Anapithecus的六个颌骨，以及从地鼠到大象的数百块其他哺乳动物的骨骼。这是迄今为止从该遗址发现的最丰富的化石集中地，大部分矿藏仍有待挖掘。我预计，通过新的挖掘，将会发现更多在2009-10年间发现的猿类骨骼。增加我们晚中新世的类人猿样本是检验关于非洲类人猿和人类起源的相互竞争的假说的唯一方法。在1000万年前的欧洲类人猿中出现的非洲类人猿特征表明，血统经历了欧洲阶段，但数据仅限于头骨和牙齿的某些方面。骨骼揭示了更多关于有机体生物学的信息，更有可能帮助研究人员揭开非洲类人猿和人类起源的复杂性。除了挖掘和分析，我们还将对该地区的同位素地球化学进行最雄心勃勃、最具原创性和最全面的分析，这将提供比中新世猿类地区更详细的当地生态条件指标，这些基本信息可以推断可能导致类人猿进化重大关键创新的选择压力。最后，随着第一至第三年R II的挖掘结束，我们将在匈牙利以及克罗地亚和罗马尼亚的古帕拉提斯湖系沿岸进行地质前景良好的露头调查。我们小组之前的工作已经确定了许多地区，有望产生富有成效的新化石地点，这将扩大我们对晚中新世欧洲哺乳动物生物地理学的了解，并阐明当时生活在欧洲的类人猿的真正多样性。

This research is designed to test the hypothesis that the ancestors of African apes and humans lived for a time in Europe, and evolved key adaptations there that led to the modern ape and human lineages. It's 4 main components are excavation, fossil analysis, isotope geochemistry and reconnaissance. We have discovered a bone bed rich in fossil vertebrates, including primates, at the main locality of Rudabánya (R II), in northern Hungary. We have portions of two skeletons of the ape Rudapithecus, six well preserved jaws of the primitive catarrhine Anapithecus, and hundreds of bones of other mammals ranging in size from shrews to elephants. It is by far the richest concentration of fossils ever recovered from the site, and most of the deposit remains to be excavated. I expect that more of the skeleton of the ape found in 2009-10 will be recovered through new excavations. Increasing our sample of late Miocene great apes is the only way to test competing hypotheses of African ape and human origins. African ape-like features present in 10 million year old European apes suggest that the lineage passed through a European phase, but the data are limited to certain aspects of the skull and teeth. Skeletons reveal much more about the biology of an organism and are more likely to help researchers unravel the complexities of African ape and human origins. Beyond excavation and analysis, we will carry out the most ambitious, original and comprehensive analysis of the isotope geochemistry of the locality, which will provide more detailed indicators of local ecological conditions than ever produced for a Miocene ape locality, essential information to deduce selection pressures that may have led to significant key innovations in hominoid evolution. Finally, as we finish with the excavation of R II in years 1 to 3 we will conduct surveys of geologically promising outcrops in Hungary but also along the shores of the ancient Paratethys lake system in Croatia and Romania. Previous work by our group has identified many areas with promise of producing productive new fossil localities that will expand our knowledge of the biogeography of late Miocene European mammals and shed light on the true diversity of apes living in Europe at that time.