Primate Paleoenvironments in the East African Early Miocene

卡他类是灵长类动物的一个类群，包括猕猴、猿和人类。我的研究项目集中在了解这些灵长类动物的进化，特别是为什么猴子和猿有这样不同的适应，以及古代环境如何塑造这些适应。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，因为这是猿和猴分化的时间和地点，而这一进化事件很好地代表了丰富的catarrhine灵长类化石记录。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如何影响卡他鼻的进化。我将考虑卡他鼻演化的物理环境，但也有生物景观（例如社区结构）。我将在西图尔卡纳（肯尼亚）的化石地点进行实地考察，对肯尼亚中新世早期（16.8 - 17.5 Ma）一个鲜为人知的地层间隔进行采样。从野外工作中收集的数据，结合其他东非中新世地点的现有数据，将被用来检验假设，中新世卡他鼻灵长类动物生活在各种环境中，并利用更开放的栖息地。传统上，早期的卡他鼻灵长类被认为生活在森林栖息地，所以这将代表适应的根本转变。* 我和我的学员将通过三个相互关联的项目来验证这一核心假设。首先，我们将通过研究有蹄类动物四肢和牙齿的生态形态学来开发研究环境变化的改进工具。其次，我们将联合收割机收集的数据，从这些新的生态形态学分析与地质数据和同位素分析的牙釉质，以表征当地的环境条件在我们的西图尔卡纳化石地点。最后，我们将联合收割机这一新的环境数据西图尔卡纳与现有的数据，从其他早中新世化石地点在东非大的时间和空间尺度上研究环境和生物的变化。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。这项研究计划是变革性的，因为它有可能从根本上改变我们对非洲猿（包括我们自己的祖先）原始适应性生态位的理解。我将开发新的生态形态学工具，并应用尖端的分析方法来研究当地和区域的空间和时间尺度上的环境变化。因为我研究的灵长类化石包括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继续适应气候变化产生更广泛的影响。

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.**