Fossil mammals associated with early human ancestors in East Africa are an important source of evidence for the ancient ecosystems in which the modern African fauna, and hominins themselves, adapted to global and regional climate change. Such data can help us to answer questions such as: 1) Were hominins adapted to specific habitats or a range of habitats at any given point in time? 2) What happened when our ancestors made the transition from living in forested habitats to more open savanna, and when does this transition occur? 3) How did hominins interact with other mammals and how did this change as hominins began to include more meat in their diets? A large and widely dispersed body of data has been amassed on East African fossil mammals over many decades of intensive field and museum work. This Workshop is designed to promote synthesis of this information and synergize the analysis of hominin paleoecology using this paleontological data. Participants from Africa, Europe, and North America will discuss ways to organize and share information about fossil mammals in order to improve understanding of the past 7 million years of ecological change and human evolution in East Africa. The participants range from researchers with decades of experience in Africa to graduate students and young professionals who are beginning careers dedicated to understanding the paleoenvironmental forces that shaped human adaptations. The workshop builds upon a symposium organized for the 2003 meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, where many of the same participants presented faunal data. Specific goals include: 1) promoting exchange and discussion of information on a wide range of faunas from East Africa, 2) establishing basic guidelines for data collection, reporting and database accessibility, 3) creating an organized network of individuals and institutions to facilitate future improved data quality and comparability. The workshop is organized around central questions in hominin paleoecology, and how best to utilize the huge body of faunal information to address such questions. It begins with a day of short presentations on faunal analysis. During the second and third days, three break-out groups will discuss the following topics: A) major questions in hominin paleoecology, B) methodologies in paleofaunal analysis, C) paleofaunal databases. The final afternoon, the entire group will reconvene to summarize discussion on these topics and prepare recommendations for future research and data exchange. The workshop should have broad impact on the development of museum resources and scientific careers in East Africa because it will bring together experts, students, and young scientists to inspire increased exchange of data and ideas, promote greater standardization and accessibility of faunal data. It will lay groundwork for future training, collaborations and comparative research on faunal change in the context of hominin evolution. It will also address the issue of data sharing and intellectual property rights with regard to faunal databases developed by individuals and institutions, which is particularly important to museums in developing countries. Results of the workshop will be written up as a report for a major paleoanthropological journal, and datasets that serve as a basis for discussion will be posted on the internet.
