EAGER: Exploration of Late Miocene Strata in a Critical Fossil Gap of the Hominoid Record: the Red Series of Northern Afar, Ethiopia

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

Exploration of Late Miocene Strata in a Critical Fossil Gap of the Hominoid Record: the Red Series of Northern Afar, Ethiopia PI: Jonathan G. Wynn University of South Florida, Department of Geology The purpose of this research is to explore little documented sediments in the northern Afar Region of Ethiopia for a paleoclimatic record from what is now recognized as a critical interval in paleobiology research. This paleoclimatic record will span the Late Miocene epoch, which is of contemporary interest the scientific community because of recent paleontological discoveries that have revealed new understanding of patterns of ape and human evolution. Three recent discoveries of fossil hominoids have been reported from strata representing an interval previously known to paleoanthropology as the fossil ape gap in the Miocene. These and other recent developments have brought the Late Miocene to the forefront of human evolutionary studies in efforts to reconcile the known fossil record with molecular-based hypotheses of the split between the ape and human clades during this interval. Sediments of the Red Series in the northern Afar region of Ethiopia span this age range, but have not been explored in any detail since early work that advanced the theory of plate tectonics during the 1960s. Hence, the record of ancient climate and environment that we will produce from these strata will be immediately relevant to current human origins research. This record will also be able to provide potential future continental drilling sites in this critical geological interval, the likes of which are now providing high resolution records of Quaternary paleoenvironmental change in the sedimentary basins in which our ancestors evolved. The exploratory work funded by this SGER grant will set the stage for work that may radically change our understanding of the critical stages of early hominin evolution. We will better understand the environmental conditions which led to the split between the ape and human clades, better understand a critical interval for Eurasian-African mammalian faunal migration, and provide potential sites for continental drilling that will be aimed at understanding the role of paleoclimatic change in the course of human evolution. This project is jointly funded by the SGP Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).