The timing and geography of African ape and human origins: New evidence from Europe, Africa and Asia.

我提议开展一项广泛的研究计划，其主要主题是验证非洲猿类和人类血统（原始人）起源于欧洲而不是非洲的假设，并确定类人猿进化史上重大事件的发生时间。非洲猿类和人类血统起源于欧洲的假设与当前的理论有很大的不同。长期以来，人们一直认为人科动物只在非洲起源和进化。唯一离开非洲的人科动物是人类，大约在200万年前。现在有新的证据表明，人类实际上是在欧洲出现的。森林古猿是大约1250万到900万年前在欧洲和中国发现的一群类人猿。在西班牙和匈牙利发现的保存完好的化石中，牙齿、上颚、面部、脑壳、颅底和整个头骨的特征只有在活着的非洲猿和人类身上才能找到。相比之下，直到大约10.5年前，人们才在非洲发现类人猿化石，当时人们发现了一些被一些人认为是人猿的化石碎片。****在我目前的资助周期中，我们在匈牙利发现了一个新的类人猿遗址，那里有一种新的类人猿化石。我们还重新发现了第一个猿类化石被描述的地点，并开始在那里探索新的化石。虽然圣高登是与森林古猿同名的（类型）遗址，但我们对它的年龄和生态知之甚少。我们开始在罗马尼亚西部和克罗地亚进行调查，发现了几个有希望的地点。我提出的研究计划如下：1)我们将继续在巴尔干半岛和喀尔巴阡盆地进行勘探，地理位置在北部丰富的潘诺尼亚盆地和南部的马其顿（希腊）之间。2)继续描述和分析来自Rudabánya的大量化石样本。3)我们将对猿类化石进行有史以来最全面的系统发育分析，所用的数据完全来自对化石记录的直接检查。4)在肯尼亚继续进行中新世早期类人猿的系统学、系统发育学和古生物学研究项目。现在我们已经命名了一个新属，我们将把所有标本分配到单个分类群，详细描述这些新组成的分类群，并重新评估这些早中新世猿类的进化史。5)最后，我们已经开始了一项扫描协议，包括对Rudabánya、Alsótelekes（新址）和圣高登的猿类化石进行微型CT扫描和同步加速器扫描，这将揭示大量关于这些猿类化石内部解剖和生长发育的新证据。哺乳动物牙齿中的生长指标揭示了许多在化石物种中不为人知的生活史迹象。通过这项研究，我们将能够建立迄今为止最有力的关于我们血统起源区域的案例，并比以往更详细地描述第一批猿类的性质以及非洲猿类和人类的共同祖先

***I propose to carry out a broad program of research the major themes of which are to test the hypothesis that the African apes and human lineage (hominines) originated in Europe and not Africa and to work out the timing of major events in ape evolutionary history. The hypothesis of a European origin of the African ape and human lineage is a significant departure from current theory. It has long been assumed that the hominines originated and evolved exclusively in Africa. The only hominine to ever leave Africa was humans, roughly 2 million years ago. Now new evidence suggests that hominines actually arose in Europe. The dryopithecins are a group of great apes known from Europe and possibly China between about 12.5 and 9 million years ago. Well preserved fossils from Spain and Hungary have characters of the dentition, palate, face, brain case, basicranium and overall skull that are only found in living African apes and humans. In contrast, there are no great ape fossils known from Africa until about 10.5 Ma, when fragmentary fossils interpreted by some to be hominine are known. ****During my current grant cycle we discovered a new ape site in Hungary with a new species of fossil ape. We also re-discovered the site from which the first fossil ape was described and began exploring for new fossils there. Although St. Gaudens is the namesake (type) site of Dryopithecus, we know little about its age or ecology. We initiated surveys in western Romania and Croatia, discovering several promising sites. The research program I propose is a follows: 1) We will continue our exploration in the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin, geographically between the rich sites of the Pannonian basin to the north and Macedonia (Greece) to the south. 2) The continued description and analysis of the large sample of fossils from Rudabánya. 3) We will carry out the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of fossil apes ever using data obtained exclusively from direct examination of the fossil record. 4) I will continue the project in Kenya on the systematics, phylogeny and paleobiology of early Miocene apes. Now that we have named a new genus we will be allocating all specimens to individual taxa, describing these newly constituted taxa in detail, and reassessing the evolutionary history of these early Miocene apes. 5) Finally, we have begun a scanning protocol involving both micro CT scanning and sychrotron scanning of fossil apes from Rudabánya, Alsótelekes (the new site) and St. Gaudens that will reveal a vast body of new evidence of the internal anatomy and the growth and development of these fossil apes. Growth indicators in the teeth of mammals reveal many indications of life history that are otherwise unknowable in fossil species. With this research we will be able to build the strongest case so far for the area of origin of our lineage and describe in more detail than ever the nature of the first apes and the common ancestor of the African apes and humans.**