Collaborative Research: Field Research at the Hominin-bearing Pliocene-age Galili Formation

450万到350万年前是人类进化史上的一个重要时期，在此期间，许多人类物种出现并多样化。在这个项目中，研究人员将从埃塞俄比亚阿法尔地区的伽利略地层收集古生物学、考古学和地质学数据，从最初的调查中得知，该地层包括一系列物种的化石，包括一些古人类标本。在这个地方的其他发现将有助于研究人类进化和适应的重要问题，如行为变化、栖息地扩大、石器使用和定期吃肉。该项目将为研究生、本科生和实地人员提供培训机会，并从科学上有兴趣的时期和地区建立古生物和考古研究收藏品。化石和考古材料及其背景信息将永久保存在埃塞俄比亚国家博物馆，地质年代学和同位素分析的数据将添加到相关的公共数据库中。在对早上新世-早更新世伽利略组为期两年的实地调查中，研究人员将扩展先前由美国国家科学基金会资助的项目区域调查；收集、准备和整理分类学、生物年代学、生物地理学和古环境敏感的化石；鉴定、取样和处理地质样品以测定年代；并绘制该地区的高分辨率地质图和地层学。这些项目活动将改善沉积物的年代控制，更好地记录动物和环境的时间连续多样性，重建盆地的几何形状和演变，并允许与其他阿瓦什盆地地区进行生物和地质比较。这个项目的发现将有助于诸如向两足动物过渡、石器制造和食肉的起源以及人属的起源等主题。加利利沉积物是对古代景观的一个独特部分进行采样，并与来自阿法尔地区的其他类似年代的化石进行比较，例如来自Woranso-Mille， Dikika， Hadar和Middle Awash的化石，将提供对整个古阿瓦什盆地的更全面的了解，以更好地了解早期人类进化的环境。

The period from 4.5 to 3.5 million years ago is an important part of our evolutionary history, during which a number of hominin species appeared and diversified. In this project, the investigators will collect paleontological, archeological, and geological data from the Galili Formation in the Afar region of Ethiopia, which is known from initial surveys to include fossils for a range of species, including some hominin specimens. Additional findings at this location will contribute to the study of important issues in hominin evolution and adaptation, such as behavioral changes, expanded habitats, stone tool use, and regular meat eating. This project will provide training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students and field personnel, and build paleontological and archeological research collections from a scientifically interesting period and region. Fossils and archeological materials, with information on their context, will be permanently curated at the Ethiopian National Museum, and data from geochronological and isotopic analyses will be added to relevant publicly-accessible databases. In this two-year field investigation of the Early Pliocene-Early Pleistocene Galili Formation, the investigators will expand on a previously NSF-funded survey of the project area; collect, prepare, and curate taxonomically, biochronologically, biogeographically, and paleoenvironmentally sensitive fossils; identify, sample, and process geological samples for dating; and develop a high-resolution geologic map and stratigraphy of the area. These project activities will improve the chronological control of the deposits, better document the time-successive diversity in fauna and environments, reconstruct basin geometry and evolution, and allow biological and geological comparisons with other Awash basin areas. Findings from this project will contribute to topics such as the transition to bipedality, the origins of stone tool manufacture and meat-eating, and the origins of the genus Homo. The Galili deposits are sampling a unique part of the ancient landscape, and comparisons with other similarly aged fossils from the Afar region, such as those from Woranso-Mille, Dikika, Hadar, and Middle Awash, will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the entire ancient Awash Basin to better understand that circumstances of early hominin evolution.