Primate Paleoenvironments in the East African Early Miocene

鼬猴是一种灵长类动物，包括猴、猿和人类。我的研究项目集中在理解这些灵长类动物的进化，特别是为什么猴子和猿有如此不同的适应能力，以及古代环境是如何塑造这些适应能力的。我的大部分研究都集中在东非中新世早期（~23 - 16 Ma）的化石记录上，因为这是类人猿和猴子分化的时间和地点，而这一进化事件在丰富的长鼻灵长类化石记录中得到了很好的体现。这个为期5年的项目的目标是了解整个中新世早期东非环境的变化是如何影响卡塔林进化的。我将考虑卡他林进化的物理环境，以及生物景观（例如群落结构）。我将在西图尔卡纳（肯尼亚）的化石地点进行实地考察，采样肯尼亚中新世早期（16.8 - 17.5 Ma）一个鲜为人知的地层间隔。从野外工作中收集的数据，结合其他东非中新世地区的现有数据，将用于验证中新世卡塔林灵长类动物生活在各种环境中，并利用更开放的栖息地的假设。传统上，早期的卡塔鼻灵长类动物被认为生活在森林栖息地，所以这将代表着适应的根本转变。我和我的学员将通过三个相互关联的项目来检验这个中心假设。首先，我们将开发改进的工具，通过检查有蹄类四肢和牙齿的生态形态学来研究环境变化。其次，我们将从这些新的生态形态分析中收集到的数据与牙釉质的地质数据和同位素分析相结合，以表征西图尔卡纳化石地点的当地环境条件。最后，我们将把西图尔卡纳的新环境数据与东非其他早中新世化石地点的现有数据结合起来，在大的时空尺度上研究环境和生物变化。从这些综合分析中产生的数据集将为研究气候变化提供一个强大的工具，以确定它如何映射到灵长类动物群落和适应的变化。***这个研究项目具有变革性，因为它有可能从根本上改变我们对非洲猿类（包括我们自己的祖先）原始适应生态位的理解。我将开发新的生态形态学工具，并应用前沿的分析方法来研究局部和区域时空尺度上的环境变化。因为我研究的灵长类化石包括了人类谱系的可能祖先，这项研究的结果也将对理解人类过去如何适应气候变化以及未来如何适应气候变化具有更广泛的意义

The catarrhines are the group of primates comprising the cercopithecoid monkeys, apes, and humans. My research program is focused on understanding the evolution of these primates, in particular why monkeys and apes have such different adaptations, and how ancient environments have shaped those adaptions. Much of my research focuses on the fossil record from the early Miocene of East Africa (~23 - 16 Ma) because this is the time and place where apes and monkeys diverge, and this evolutionary event is well represented by a rich catarrhine primate fossil record.***The goal of this 5-year project is to understand how changes in East African environments throughout the early Miocene have impacted catarrhine evolution. I will consider both the physical environments that catarrhines evolved in, but also the biotic landscape (e.g. community structure). I will conduct fieldwork at fossil localities in West Turkana (Kenya) that sample a poorly known stratigraphic interval in the early Miocene of Kenya (16.8 - 17.5 Ma). The data collected from fieldwork, combined with existing data from other East African Miocene localities, will be used to test the hypothesis that Miocene catarrhine primates lived in a variety of environments, and were utilizing more open habitats. Traditionally, early catarrhine primates were thought to have lived in forested habitats, so this would represent a fundamental shift in adaptation. ***My trainees and I will test this central hypothesis through three interconnected projects. First, we will develop improved tools for studying environmental change by examining the ecomorphology of ungulate limbs and teeth. Second, we will combine the data collected from these novel ecomorphological analyses with geological data and isotopic analyses of tooth enamel in order to characterize local environmental conditions at our West Turkana fossil localities. Finally, we will combine this new environmental data for West Turkana with existing data from other early Miocene fossil localities in East Africa to examine environmental and biotic change on a large temporal and spatial scale. The dataset generated from these integrated analyses will provide a powerful tool for examining climate change through time to determine how it maps on to changes in primate communities and adaptations.***This research program is transformative because of its potential to fundamentally alter our understanding of the original adaptive niche of the African apes, including our own ancestors. I will develop new ecomorphological tools and apply cutting edge analytical methods to study environmental change on both local and regional spatial and temporal scales. Because the fossil primates I study include the likely ancestors of the human lineage, the results of this research will also have broader implications for understanding how humans have adapted to climate change in the past and will continue to do so in the future.**