Evolving landscapes of our early South African ancestors

该项目旨在重建我们属的早期进化，从260万到180万年前。这是一个动物群和环境发生变化的时期，类人猿祖先（南方古猿）灭绝，一个特殊的人类属--傍人的物种形成，以及我们自己的属--人属的起源。该项目将研究南非的洞穴遗址，周围的喀斯特，以及已知最古老的智人化石，以模拟人类不断变化的饮食模式和景观使用。该项目旨在重建我们属的早期进化，并解决物种如何应对不断变化的环境条件和日益严重的干旱。

This project aims to reconstruct the early evolution of our genus, from 2.6 to 1.8 million years ago. This was a time of faunal and environmental change, the extinction of apelike human ancestors (Australopithecus), the speciation of a specialised human genus, Paranthropus, and the origin of our own genus, Homo. This project will study South African cave sites, the surrounding karst, and the oldest known Homo ergaster fossil to model changing dietary patterns and landscape use by hominins. This project expects to reconstruct the early evolution of our genus and to address how species reacted to changing environmental conditions and increasing aridity.