This project is a three-dimensional metric analysis of the infraorbital region of extinct hominins, modern humans, and great apes. The primary goal is to use 3-D landmark data in a phylogenetic analysis of extinct hominins. Issues of metric variation and the use of quantitative characters in phylogenetic analyses will be necessarily addressed as they relate to hominin phylogeny
One aspect of the intellectual merit of this project is that it provides for a detailed examination of hominin facial morphology widely acknowledged to play an important role in interpretations of the evolutionary history of the hominins, but with technologies that allow metric description of the anatomy and quantitative methods that permit detailed examination of specific characters. Furthermore, this project specifically reexamines important hypotheses of homology for facial anatomy in Australopithecus africanus, A. robustus, and A. boisei articulated by Yoel Rak, particularly in light of the discovery of KNM-WT 17000. One advantage of this project is that it applies technologies and statistical methods that allow sophisticated metric description of anatomy that has historically been described quantitatively. Furthermore, it takes advantage of the potential for addressing phylogenetic issues with three-dimensional landmark data by breaking the landmark data into subsets. These subsets describe the variation, and similarity and dissimilarity, of specific characters across multiple hominin taxa. Although the use of geometric morphometrics is becoming widespread, evolutionary biologists have not taken full advantage of the potential for addressing issues in evolutionary systematics with these technologies. By demonstrating the utility of a dense anatomical landmark set that can be subdivided to represent the variation of individual characters, this study will serve as a model for the use of geometric morphometric data in phylogenetic studies.
The broader impact of this project will be in the dissemination of information derived from the study. Methods and preliminary results will be presented to museum personnel and interested non-scientific local parties during on-site data collection. To ensure that the information is distributed to a wide scientific and non-scientific community, final results will be distributed to scholarly journals from both the United States and the countries of origin of the fossils, and non-scholarly journals. Periodicals from the countries of the fossils' origin, such as the Journal of Ethiopian Studies, will be presented the material for distribution to a broader, non-scientific, audience. Fossil hominins are a source of great local pride in the countries of origin, and the dissemination of information on the importance of these fossils in understanding the evolutionary history of all humans is an integral aspect of increasing knowledge of and educational interest in human evolutionary history.
