Collaborative Research: Individual and Taxonomic Discrimination Through Laser Scan Analysis of Joint Congruence in Extant Hominoids

将化石标本分配到一个分类单元，有时分配到一个个体，是古生物学中一个常见而重要的问题。当一个（或多个）物种的多个个体从一个地点被发现时，将单个个体的元素联系起来以确定保存的个体数量以及检查比例，功能适应和其他因素通常是至关重要的。在这个项目中，PI提出了一个相对较新的方法来解决这些问题，结合激光表面扫描的相对关节表面与先进的统计分析，以研究如何区分类群和相关元素的独特的个人使用样本的现存的人科动物的个人是已知的。以前使用激光扫描仪的研究缺乏合适的计算能力和统计方法。Delson和同事们将在这项工作的基础上，结合他们自己对高分辨率扫描、几何形态测量分析以及现存和灭绝的卡他鼻类分类群的联合表面的广泛熟悉。这项工作也有多个人的遗骸法医和考古积累的分析的影响。这项研究将集中在两个重要关节的骨组成部分：手肘（肱骨-尺骨）和踝关节（胫骨-距骨）。这两个关节都是相对“紧密”的，显示出高度的一致性，其中所提出的方法具有更高的成功机会。手肘关节比踝关节“紧”，进一步允许对关节连接的紧密程度影响该方法的效果进行一些评估。最后，这两个关节在类人猿中具有重要的功能，在人类化石记录中也有很好的代表性，这是后期研究的重点。有限的数据的初步分析表明，这种基本的方法可以成功地区分不同的人类个体之间的胫距表面和属于不同的类人猿物种之间的关节。本研究将收集更多的数据，并集中精力发展统计学上强大的方法来分析它们。除了这些问题，这项工作有更广泛的影响，因为它将：1）招募雷曼学院的本科生在科学中代表性不足的群体作为研究助理;（二）通过与其他大学和英国同事的合作，以及通过开发和免费分发算法来加强基础设施，该项目的目标是：（1）开发用于分析全等模式的软件;（2）在软件和分析方法的开发方面扩大与计算机科学家的合作;（3）通过开发和免费分发三维虚拟模型和用于教学的关节表面可视化，将研究、教学和更广泛的成果传播结合起来。

The allocation of fossil specimens to a taxon, and in some cases to an individual, is a frequent and important problem of paleontology. When multiple individuals of one (or more) species are recovered from a site, it is often vital to associate elements of a single individual in order to determine the number of individuals preserved, as well as examine proportions, functional adaptations and other factors. In this project, the PIs propose a relatively new approach to these problems, combining laser surface scans of opposing joint surfaces with advanced statistical analyses to examine ways to differentiate taxa and associate elements of unique individuals using a sample of extant hominoids where individuals are known. Previous studies using a laser scanner suffered from the lack of suitable computational power and statistical methodology. Delson and colleagues will build upon that work in combination with their own extensive familiarity with high-resolution scanning, geometric morphometric analysis and joint surfaces of extant and extinct catarrhine taxa. This work also has implications for analyses of forensic and archaeological accumulations of multiple-individual human remains.This study will focus on the bony components of two important joints: the elbow (humero-ulnar) and ankle (tibio-talar). Both of these joints are relatively "tight" showing a high degree of congruence where the proposed method has a higher chance of success. The elbow joint is "tighter" than the ankle, further allowing some evaluation of how tightly a joint articulates influences how well the method works. Finally, both of these joints are of functional interest among hominoids and are also well-represented in the human fossil record, the planned focus of later phases of research. Preliminary analysis of limited data has demonstrated that this basic approach can successfully discriminate between tibio-talar surfaces of different human individuals and among joints belonging to different hominoid species. The present study will collect additional data and concentrate on development of statistically powerful methods for their analysis.In addition to these questions, this work has broader impacts in that it will: 1) recruit Lehman College undergraduates from groups underrepresented in science to be research assistants; 2) enhance infrastructure through collaboration with other universities as well as British colleagues and by developing and freely distributing algorithms and software with which to analyze congruence patterns; 3) expand collaboration with computer scientists in the development of software and analytical methods; and 4) integrate research, teaching and wider dissemination of results by developing and freely distributing three-dimensional virtual models and visualizations of joint surfaces for use in teaching.