Analysis of Craniofacial Morphology and Development

这笔赠款提供了预计为期两年的支持中的第一年。它使沃德博士和他的合作者能够研究灵长类化石的头骨，这些头骨可以追溯到中新世：大约2500万到400万年前。为了建立一个比较的背景，还将对收集的活猿进行研究。来自东非、欧洲、南亚和东亚地区的标本将进行比较评估，以确定是否存在一些特征。这些观测将通过定量立体测量得到加强，这使得对复杂解剖表面的分析成为可能。在这项研究和以前的研究的基础上，应该有可能将主要的中新世样品分配到它们适当的组中，并确定这些样品与可能存在的后代之间的关系。通过对化石遗骸的分析，人类的祖先可以追溯到大约400万年前。猩猩是另一种类人猿，可以追溯到中新世。非洲类人猿--大猩猩和黑猩猩--的祖先尚不清楚。在过去的几年里，发现了大量的中新世人类化石，这表明这些体型庞大的灵长类动物存在于旧大陆的许多地方。很明显，它们属于许多物种。然而，科学家们仍然无法就现存的物种数量以及它们与现代物种的关系(如果有的话)达成一致。沃德博士的分析应该有助于回答这个问题。这项研究很重要，因为这增加了我们对我们自己和密切相关物种的发展的理解，并将使我们深入了解随着时间的推移塑造这种发展的过程。化石往往花费巨大，只有在分析和理解时才能实现其全部价值。沃德博士的研究将为这一目标做出重大贡献。

This grant provides the first of an expected two years of support. It allows Dr. Ward and his collaborators to study skulls of fossil primates which date to the Miocene period: from approximately 25 million to 4 million years ago. To establish a comparative context research will also be conducted on collections of living apes. Specimens from localities in East Africa, Europe, Southern and East Asia will be comparatively evaluated for the presence or absence of a number of features. These observations will be augmented by quantitative stereometry which permits the analysis of complex anatomical surfaces. On the basis of this and previous studies it should be possible to assign the major Miocene samples to their appropriate groups and determine the relationship between these and possible living descendents. Through analysis of fossil remains, human ancestry can be traced back about 4 million years. The orangutan, another of the hominoids can be traced back into the Miocene. The ancestry of the African great apes - the gorilla and chimpanzee - is unknown. In the last several years a large number of Miocene hominoid fossils have been recovered and these indicate that these large bodied primates were present in many parts of the Old World. It is also clear that they belong to a number of species. However scientists still cannot agree how many species are present or how they relate (if at all) to modern species. Dr. Ward's analysis should help to answer this question. This research is important because increases our understanding of the development of both our own and closely related species and will give us insight into the processes which have shaped this development over time. Fossils, often recovered at great expense, only achieve their full worth when analyzed and understood. Dr. Ward's research will make a significant contribution towards this end.