Zeresenay Alemseged, California Academy of Sciences
This study aims to address one of the key research questions for understanding the paleobiology of early hominins: what was the role of ecological change on the development of major early human adaptations? The PIs will address this broad question by developing integrative approaches to bring new data to the paleofaunal databases from the hominin-bearing Omo sequence (paleofauna collected by the The International Omo Research Expedition, IORE, 1966-1976). Existing taxonomic abundance data from these large and systematically collected paleofaunal databases will be integrated with new, independent paleoecological data from stable isotopes and ecomorphological features of the paleofaunal community. The stable isotopic composition of tooth enamel from hominins and other primates from this sequence will also be analyzed for the first time.
Broader Significance and Importance: The results of this research will not only address questions of paleodiets and paleoecology of East African faunas, but may significantly transform our understanding of the the evolution of the mammalian community in the Omo-Turkana Basin of Ethiopia and Kenya from >4 to 1.2 million years ago, which is one of the most significant basins for early human evolutionary studies. This study will also provide direct and fresh data on the diets consumed by at least four hominin species encountered in the Omo sequence, and will better our understanding of when and where hominins first began to significantly consume foods derived from savanna resources. The research will continue international collaborations between US academic institutions and the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, which provides a venue for public outreach and education within Ethiopia and beyond. The data from this project will be incorporated into a database system, and made readily available via several outlets. This proposal will provide graduate training for two graduate students integrating several research communities: geology, geochemistry, paleontology, and paleoanthropology. The research results will be used in a variety of outlets for public outreach.
