Narok Paleontological Survey Project

几十年来，分子研究已经得出结论，人类和类人猿谱系之间的进化分裂发生在中新世晚期，c。5-8 MA. 直到最近，古生物学证据才开始为这种分歧提供重要的解剖学数据。 来自乍得、埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚的化石首次揭示了我们最早的祖先是什么样的，他们生活在哪里，以及最终导致我们今天所知道的物种的进化力量是什么。 我们发现这些晚中新世遗迹的沉积矿床是罕见的，很难定位。 尽管存在困难和挑战，但它们的产量对于重建人类谱系的进化至关重要。 这个人类学高风险研究项目是对肯尼亚南部纳罗克周围地区的系统古生物调查。 1995年，在该地区发现了晚中新世的Lemudong 'o遗址，此后发现的化石遗迹表明，在非洲其他地区发现的原始人类栖息地类型（封闭/林地环境）。 地质年代学将该遗址确定为6 ma。 Lemudong 'o地点1是一个非常小的地点，尚未发现人科动物。 建议对该地区进行一次基于图像的调查，以确定这些相同沉积物的额外露头，增加发现的化石数量，并增加这样的可能性：如果原始人类生活在这个地区6万年，如果他们被保存在这些沉积物中，现在可以发现他们的一些遗骸。鉴于最近对该地区中新世晚期矿床的记录，拟议活动的知识价值和成功的潜力很高。 团队成员在Lemudong 'o地点1和附近地区进行了大量研究。 因此，我们已经了解了地质、地形、当地人，也许最重要的是，地面实况可以应用于图像导向的调查方法。 卫星和其他基于图像的调查方法已被证明是非常成功的，PI与埃塞俄比亚的同事一起使用这种方法具有相当丰富的经验，拟议活动产生的更广泛的影响涵盖整个生物科学和地质学，以及广大公众。 发现晚中新世含原始人的沉积物的成功将立即对早期原始人的地理和生物变异的已知范围做出重大贡献。 仅仅一颗牙齿就可以揭示出埃塞俄比亚和乍得的晚中新世人科动物与肯尼亚北方遗址的人科动物之间的明显形态差异。 除了原始人类之外，许多化石将被发现，为脊椎动物古生物学领域做出贡献。 将与这一调查项目一起进行的地质工作有助于更广泛地了解裂谷系统以及大陆板块构造的模式和过程。 最后，人类生物学植根于进化。 我们越了解我们进化的动物，我们就越能更好地了解我们的现代生物学和生物变异，其影响从生物医学进步到社会政治学。

Molecular studies have concluded for decades that the evolutionary split between the human and great ape lineages occurred during the Late Miocene, c. 5-8 ma. Only recently has the paleontological evidence started to provide significant anatomical data about this divergence. Fossils from Chad, Ethiopia, and Kenya shed the first light on what our earliest ancestors were like, where they lived, and what the evolutionary forces may have been that ultimately resulted in the species we know today. The sedimentary deposits in which we find these Late Miocene remains are rare and difficult to locate. Despite the difficulty and challenges, their yields are of critical importance to reconstructing the evolution of the human lineage. This High Risk Research in Anthropology project is a systematic paleontological survey of the area around Narok, in southern Kenya. The Late Miocene site of Lemudong'o was discovered in this region in 1995 and has since yielded fossil remains suggesting the type of habitat in which hominids are found in other areas of Africa (closed/woodland environment). Geochronology places the site securely at 6 ma. Lemudong'o Locality 1 is a very small site and has not yet yielded hominids. An imagery-based survey of the region is proposed to locate additional outcrops of these same sediments, increasing the number of fossils recovered and increasing the likelihood that if hominids lived in this area 6 ma, and if they were preserved in these sediments, some of their remains can now be found.Though this survey project is high-risk, the intellectual merit of the proposed activity and the potential for success is high given the recent documentation of Late Miocene-aged deposits in the area. The team members have done considerable research at Lemudong'o Locality 1 and the immediately surrounding area. Therefore, we already have an understanding of the geology, terrain, local people, and perhaps most importantly, ground truth to apply to an imagery-directed survey approach. Satellite and other imagery-based survey approaches have proven to be highly successful and the PI has considerable experience working with this approach with colleagues in Ethiopia.The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity span throughout the biological sciences and geology to the general public at large. Success in finding hominid-bearing Late Miocene sediments will immediately contribute significantly to the known range in geography and biological variation of early hominids. Just one tooth would shed light on the apparent morphological differences between the Late Miocene hominids of Ethiopia and Chad compared to those from more northern sites in Kenya. Many fossils aside from hominids will be recovered, contributing to the field of vertebrate paleontology. The geological work that will take place in conjunction with this survey project contributes to the larger understanding of rift valley systems and the patterns and process of continental plate tectonics. And finally, human biology is rooted in evolution. The more we understand about the animals through which we evolved, the better we understand our modern biology and biological variation, with an impact that reaches from biomedical advances to sociopolitics.