The timing and geography of African ape and human origins: New evidence from Europe, Africa and Asia.

*我建议开展一项广泛的研究计划，其主要主题是检验非洲类人猿和人类谱系(人)起源于欧洲而不是非洲的假设，并找出类人猿进化史上重大事件的发生时间。关于非洲类人猿和人类血统起源于欧洲的假说与当前的理论大相径庭。长期以来，人们一直认为原始人只在非洲起源和进化。大约200万年前，唯一离开过非洲的原始人是人类。现在，新的证据表明，人类实际上起源于欧洲。始祖猿是一群从欧洲发现的类人猿，可能是中国，大约在1250万到900万年前。西班牙和匈牙利保存完好的化石具有牙齿、上颚、面部、脑壳、颅骨和整个头骨的特征，这些特征只有在现存的非洲猿类和人类中才能找到。相比之下，非洲直到大约10.5 Ma才发现大型猿类化石，当时一些人认为是人类的零碎化石才被发现。*在我当前的捐赠周期中，我们在匈牙利发现了一个新的猿类遗址，发现了一种新的猿类化石。我们还重新发现了描述第一个类人猿化石的遗址，并开始在那里探索新的化石。虽然圣高登斯是鳞毛猿的同名(类型)遗址，但我们对它的年龄和生态知之甚少。我们在罗马尼亚西部和克罗地亚开始了调查，发现了几个有希望的地点。我建议的研究计划如下：1)我们将继续在巴尔干和喀尔巴底盆地进行勘探，这些地区位于北部潘尼安盆地和南部马其顿(希腊)富饶的地区之间。2)继续对鲁达巴尼亚的大样本化石进行描述和分析。3)我们将使用专门从化石记录直接检查获得的数据，进行有史以来最全面的化石类人猿系统发育分析。4)我将继续在肯尼亚开展关于早期中新世类人猿的系统学、系统发育和古生物学的项目。既然我们已经命名了一个新属，我们将把所有的标本分配到单独的类群，详细描述这些新组成的类群，并重新评估这些早期中新世类人猿的进化史。5)最后，我们已经开始了一项扫描方案，包括对来自Rudabánya、AlsóTelekes(新遗址)和St.Gaudens的化石猿进行微CT扫描和同步辐射扫描，这将揭示这些化石猿内部解剖和生长发育的大量新证据。哺乳动物牙齿的生长指标揭示了许多生命历史的迹象，而这些迹象在化石物种中是不可知的。有了这项研究，我们将能够建立到目前为止关于我们血统起源地区的最有力的案例，并比以往任何时候都更详细地描述最早的类人猿以及非洲类人猿和人类的共同祖先的性质。

***I propose to carry out a broad program of research the major themes of which are to test the hypothesis that the African apes and human lineage (hominines) originated in Europe and not Africa and to work out the timing of major events in ape evolutionary history. The hypothesis of a European origin of the African ape and human lineage is a significant departure from current theory. It has long been assumed that the hominines originated and evolved exclusively in Africa. The only hominine to ever leave Africa was humans, roughly 2 million years ago. Now new evidence suggests that hominines actually arose in Europe. The dryopithecins are a group of great apes known from Europe and possibly China between about 12.5 and 9 million years ago. Well preserved fossils from Spain and Hungary have characters of the dentition, palate, face, brain case, basicranium and overall skull that are only found in living African apes and humans. In contrast, there are no great ape fossils known from Africa until about 10.5 Ma, when fragmentary fossils interpreted by some to be hominine are known. ****During my current grant cycle we discovered a new ape site in Hungary with a new species of fossil ape. We also re-discovered the site from which the first fossil ape was described and began exploring for new fossils there. Although St. Gaudens is the namesake (type) site of Dryopithecus, we know little about its age or ecology. We initiated surveys in western Romania and Croatia, discovering several promising sites. The research program I propose is a follows: 1) We will continue our exploration in the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin, geographically between the rich sites of the Pannonian basin to the north and Macedonia (Greece) to the south. 2) The continued description and analysis of the large sample of fossils from Rudabánya. 3) We will carry out the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of fossil apes ever using data obtained exclusively from direct examination of the fossil record. 4) I will continue the project in Kenya on the systematics, phylogeny and paleobiology of early Miocene apes. Now that we have named a new genus we will be allocating all specimens to individual taxa, describing these newly constituted taxa in detail, and reassessing the evolutionary history of these early Miocene apes. 5) Finally, we have begun a scanning protocol involving both micro CT scanning and sychrotron scanning of fossil apes from Rudabánya, Alsótelekes (the new site) and St. Gaudens that will reveal a vast body of new evidence of the internal anatomy and the growth and development of these fossil apes. Growth indicators in the teeth of mammals reveal many indications of life history that are otherwise unknowable in fossil species. With this research we will be able to build the strongest case so far for the area of origin of our lineage and describe in more detail than ever the nature of the first apes and the common ancestor of the African apes and humans.**