Reassessment of the Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Status of Australopithecus Africanus

自从1924年雷蒙德·达特博士在南非发现并描述了第一个南方古猿标本以来，这块化石一直是人类学家最感兴趣的化石。随着在随后的几年中发现了更多的标本，人们的兴趣在很大程度上增加了，因为关于其重要性的争议。认为化石是我们物种历史上极其重要的化石的观点出现得很慢，但现在几乎所有人类学家都持有这种观点。然而，南方古猿的确切分类和系统发育地位仍在古人类学中引起争论。这项提议的意义在于，它提议对南非所有的非洲南方古猿化石物种进行全面的重新研究。主要研究人员将通过评估颅骨变异模式来诊断物种的形态，并测试有关其在化石记录中的位置的命题，并更清楚地定义物种的系统学亲缘关系。

Ever since 1924 when the first specimen of Australopithecus was found and described by Dr. Raymond Dart in South Africa, this fossil has been of prime interest to anthropologists. As more specimens were found in subsequent years, interest increased largely because of controversies regarding its importance. The view that the fossil is an extremely important one in the history of our own species was slow in coming, but it is now a view held by virtually all anthropologists. Yet, the precise taxonomic and phylogenetic status of Australopithecus continues to stir debate in paleoanthropology. The significance of this proposal is that it proposes to carry out a comprehensive restudy of all the South African collections of the fossil species, Australopithecus africanus. The principal investigators will diagnose the species morphologically and test propositions about its placement in the fossil record by assessing patterns of cranial variation and define more clearly the phyletic affinities of the species.