HUMAN EVOLUTION : FROM THE EARLIEST ANTHROPOIDS TO THE FIRST HOMINIDS – EVAH

The multidisciplinary project, concerns the origin and the evolution of the anthropoids, the hominids and their environments. The core of the project relies on the major results achieved by our team following extensive fieldwork in Africa and Southeast Asia: (1) discovery of the oldest known hominid and demonstration of a large geographic distribution of the earliest hominids, (2) breakthrough on the origin of the orangutans; 3) demonstration of the Asian origin of the anthropoids. We propose to develop our research on these key points of our history, through the intensification of fieldwork and the implementation of new approaches in order to offer a new reading of our origins. For anthropoids, a better understanding of the anatomy of amphipithecids is essential in determining precisely their phylogenetic position. What are the patterns of dispersion of the first African anthropoids during the Late Eocene, since an Asian origin for this group is now demonstrated' For hominids, what are the climatic/environmental changes related to the emergence and to the evolution of our family' What are the ecological characteristics (locomotion, feeding behavior, etc.) of early hominids' What are the paleobiogeographical and phylogenetic relationships between the Miocene hominids in East and Central Africa' How these Miocene forms prefigure the emergence of latter hominids' Our team is one of the few international research groups that can deal with ail the components of such research - from the discovery of a new fossil on the field to the interpretation of its evolution, and its environment - in a highly competitive international contex!. We are indeed in a leading rank on these issues, and it is essential to maintain our le ad and the French position in these fields of research. Agreements with African institutions (Chad, Aigeria, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya and Madagascar) and Asian institutions (Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and China) are already established. Hence, the project will be conducted on this basis and in close collaboration with local researchers and international specialists. Our project is divided into two complementary components covering the last 40 Myrs: (A) hominid/environment relationships in Africa (Sahara and Rift); (B) origin and dispersai of early anthropoids (SE Asia, Africa). Six tasks structure these two components: Task A 1 - Origin, evolution and environments of early hominids in Central Africa (Chad), Task A2 - The role of North-Central Africa in the evolution of early hominids (Libya-Egypt), Task A3 - Environmental changes during the Pliocene and their impact on the emergence of the Homo and Paranthropus genera (Ethiopia), Task B1 - Identification of the first steps of the African anthropoids, dispersai from Asia to North Africa (Algeria and Libya), Task B2 - Identification of Paleogene anthropoids in East Africa (Kenya), Task B3 - Anatomy and phylogeny of Eocene anthropoids from South-East Asia, and the Origin of the African and Asian hominoid clades. In conclusion, our project is ambitious but is based on the significant results achieved by our team thanks to the previous ANR contract, for which ail objectives have been completed. This project relies on the experience and the expertise developed by our team (dealing with new sites and fossils in the field, analyses, Interpretations and publications), and on new methodological approaches (endocranial neuroanatomy, numerical analysis of faunal assemblages, biogeochemistry of hominid teeth enamel, geographic information system, etc.). Pursuing the current work in Chad as weil as the new field surveys initiated in the Neogene of North Africa (Libya, Egypt) will allow us clarifying the paleobiogeographical relationships between the various Africa regions that yield early hominids. These data will be crucial for understanding the hominid distribution, for better interpreting their relationships and then reconstructing their evolutive history. Similarly, pursuing the work underway in South-East Asia as weil as the new field surveys initiated in the Paleogene of North Africa (Algeria and Libya) will allow us c1arifying the paleobiogeographical relationships between Africa and Asia and then identifying the early anthropoid dispersai pathways. A better understanding of Asian taxa is also essential to clarify the phylogenetic context for the Asian origin of anthropoids; but also to have a new approach about the Origin of the African and Asian hominoid clades.