Integrated Analysis of Fossil Lemur Sites

一种新开发的地下水位以下挖掘方法，去年在高风险人类学研究奖下成功测试，将应用于马达加斯加各地的狐猴化石遗址。 预计丰富的数据产量将允许检查的性质和时间的大型本土动物和景观发生在岛上的变化，在过去的两千年。 在过去，一般在没有适当的地层控制的情况下挖掘出含有该时期的化石记录的遗址。 通过在地下水位中创建一个临时凹陷，以便通过全面的三维地层控制去除沉积物，高压超轻型水泵现在可以重新挖掘关键地点，并打开其他以前因洪水泛滥而未经调查的地点。性质。 放射性碳定年技术的改进和多学科的分析方法现在可以将灭绝的巨型狐猴和其他灭绝动物的骨骼证据与许多其他类型的数据相关联，包括小型脊椎动物和无脊椎动物遗骸，花粉和植物宏体化石，木炭颗粒，稳定同位素，古代DNA和人类文物。 通过从岛上不同地区选择关键地点进行详细分析，并汇编和评估现有数据集进行比较，在景观层面上整合这些结果，将为闪电战假说（人类快速过度杀戮）和五种相互竞争的马达加斯加灭绝假说提供迄今为止最严格的检验。 确定人类与已灭绝巨型动物之间重叠期的长度以及生物变化的顺序，对于评估对灭绝的相互竞争的解释特别重要。 此外，还将收集有关灭绝的巨型狐猴的饮食和习惯，现存狐猴物种的范围变化以及人类到达和景观改造的时间的新见解。 应用这些技术将丰富我们对狐猴进化和生态学以及人类在改变马达加斯加中的作用的基本了解。 国际科学和工程办公室以及环境、社会和行为科学活动办公室正在协助提供资金，以加强国际合作和本科生的教育机会。

A newly developed approach to excavation below the water table, tested successfully last year under a High Risk Anthropological Research award, will be applied to fossil lemur sites throughout Madagascar. The anticipated rich yield of data will permit the examination of the nature and timing of the extinctions of the larger native animals and the landscape changes that occurred on the island in the last two thousand years. In the past, sites containing a fossil record of the period during which the extinctions occurred have generally been excavated without suitable stratigraphic control. By creating a temporary depression in the water table in order to remove the sediments with full three-dimensional stratigraphic control, high-pressure ultralight water pumps now make it possible to re-excavate key sites, and open others previously uninvestigated because of their flooded nature. Improvements in radiocarbon dating techniques and a multidisciplinary approach to analysis now make it feasible to correlate evidence from the bones of extinct giant lemurs and other extinct animals with many other types of data, including small vertebrate and invertebrate remains, pollen and plant macrofossils, charcoal particles, stable isotopes, ancient DNA, and human artifacts. Integrating these results at the landscape level, through the choice of key sites from the various regions of the island for detailed analysis and the compilation and evaluation of existing data sets for comparison, will provide the most rigorous test yet devised for the Blitzkrieg Hypothesis (rapid overkill by humans) and five competing hypotheses for the extinctions in Madagascar. Determining the length of the period of overlap between humans and the extinct megafauna and the sequence of biotic changes will be particularly critical to the evaluation of competing explanations for the extinctions. In addition, new insights will be gathered concerning the diet and habits of extinct giant lemurs, range shifts of extant lemur species, and the timing of human arrival and landscape transformation. Applying these techniques will enrich our basic understanding of lemur evolution and ecology and of the role of humans in transforming Madagascar. The Office of International Science and Engineering and Environmental Social and Behavioral Sciences Activities are assisting in the funding in order to enhance international cooperation and educational opportunities for undergraduate students.