Dissertation Research: Body Size and Proportions in the Late Pleistocene Western Old World and the Origins of Modern Humans

摘要 P.I. Erik Trinkaus SBR- 9321339 现代人类起源的问题仍然是激烈争论的中心。 目前，我们的出现有两种相反的模式。 第一个是“替代”，假设现代人类首先出现在中更新世晚期或晚更新世早期的一个有限区域（最有可能是撒哈拉以南非洲），随后扩散到非洲以外，取代了世界其他地方现有的古代人类种群。 这个模型将否认尼安德特人对现代欧亚人口的重大遗传贡献（如果有的话）。 第二个模型，“区域连续性”，提出古代人类种群之间的基因流动足以阻止物种形成，现代人类是从分布在整个旧世界的单一多样的古代人类种群逐渐进化而来的。 该模型确定了跨越古代/现代人类边界的假定区域特征，该模型为尼安德特人提供了现代欧亚人祖先的完整地位。 化石证据表明，晚期古撒哈拉以南非洲人的特征是适应热带的形态，类似于那里的现代人。 如果替代模型是正确的，那么寒温带地区的第一批现代人应该具有这些相同的特征，例如不同于欧洲古代人的特征。 区域连续性模型认为，今天发现的身体大小和比例的生态地理模式可以追溯到中更新世人类向中纬度地区的传播。 通过对头盖骨后化石的检查，研究人员将测试这两个关于在过去5万年人类进化中身体比例变化的假设。 这也将导致一个优秀的新专业的培训。 [*] P\anthro\jfried\9321339.abs ! ! ! D 6 6 ( Times New Roman 符号Arial ı ı ı " H Eis E R | = 乔纳森·弗里德兰德

ABSTRACT P.I. Erik Trinkaus SBR- 9321339 The question of modern human origins remains the center of active debate. There are currently two opposing models for our emergence. The first, "Replacement," posits that modern humans arose first in a restricted region (most likely within sub-Saharan Africa) in the late Middle or early Late Pleistocene, and subsequently spread out of Africa, replacing existing archaic human populations elsewhere in the world. This model would deny the Neandertals significant (if any) genetic contribution to modern Eurasian populations. The second model, "Regional Continuity," proposes that gene flow among archaic human populations was sufficient to prevent speciation, with modern humans evolving gradually from a single diverse archaic human stock distributed throughout the Old World. This model identifies presumed regional features that persist across the archaic/modern human boundary, and the model affords the Neandertals full status as ancestors of modern Eurasians. Fossil evidence suggests late archaic sub-Saharan Africans were characterized by a tropically-adapted morphology, akin to moderns there. If the replacement model is correct, the first modern humans in cold-temperate regions should be characterized by these same features, different from those of European archaics, for example. The regional continuity model would argue that the ecogeographic patterning in body size and proportions found today dates back to the Middle Pleistocene spread of hominids to mid-latitudes. Through an examination of fossil post-cranial remains, the investigators will test these t wo hypotheses on changing body proportions over the last 50,000 years of human evolution. It also will result in the training of an excellent new professional. *** P\anthro\jfried\9321339.abs ! ! ! D 6 6 ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial ı ı ı " h es Eis E R | = Jonathan Friedlaender Jonathan Friedlaender