In the summer of 1964, a Yale undergrad named J.G. Mead discovered a beaked whale fossil during an expedition in what is now the Turkana region of northwest Kenya. The 17-million-year-old fossil played an integral role in providing the first date estimate for East Africas puzzling tectonic uplift. Now, 56 years later, the fossil has become the impetus for new research that takes a unique approach to uncovering the course of mammalian evolution in East Africa.
In January 2021, an international research team led by Stony Brook University will launch a project that aims to understand how climate change and tectonics on Miocene ecosystems in this region influenced life and evolution, from the time that whale lived to the present day.
The research is supported by a $2.7 million four-year grant from the National Science Foundations (NSF) Frontier Research in Earth Sciences (FRES) Program. Named the Turkana Miocene Project, the research is multinational, interdisciplinary and involves five core U.S. universities. Led by Stony Brook, the project also includes Rutgers University, Hamilton College, the University of Michigan and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
The international team includes experts in tectonics, sedimentology, geochronology, isotope geochemistry, paleoecology, climate modeling and paleontology, and includes members based at the National Museums of Kenya and University of Helsinki, Finland.
The goal of the research is to better define through fieldwork, laboratory analysis and advanced climate modeling how tectonics and climate interacted to shape the environment that gave rise to the ancestors of humans and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans that emerged in Africa.
Since the whale fossil was originally found 740 miles inland and at an elevation of approximately 2,000 feet, the question of how it got to that location has mystified scientists for decades. And because it represents a profound change from the Miocene Epoch to Kenyas Turkana Basin today a possible indication of a transformed geological and ecological landscape the Miocene is of particular interest to geologists and paleoclimatologists. Thats because major phases of the geology of the Himalayas occurred during the period, affecting monsoonal patterns in Asia that were interlinked with glacial periods in the northern hemisphere.
A longstanding question at the intersection of Earth and life sciences is: What roles if any do climate and tectonics play in the evolution of life?
The East African Rift is among the best places to study the influences of Earth processes on the evolution of mammals, said Isaiah Nengo, principal investigator, professor of anthropology and associate director of Stony Brook Universitys Turkana Basin Institute. Here, uniquely, the regions geologic and climate histories, including the formation of the rift system that is the cradle of humankind, are preserved in sedimentary rocks. Our collaborative work will tease out how tectonics and climate come together to drive evolution.
By investigating the basins sediments, the researchers will tackle a task that has never been done before. The team hopes the fossils contained will provide new insight into ancient climate and habitats that record the emergence of humans, their primate ancestors and African mammals over the past 25 million years.
Its estimated that the human-chimpanzee common ancestor evolved approximately 7.5 million years ago (mya) and diverged from the common ancestor with the gorilla ancestor about 9.3 mya. Meanwhile, the common ancestor of the great apes and humans is estimated to have diverged from the ancestor of the gibbons and siamangs approximately 19.1 mya. All these key divergence events would have occurred in the time period known as the Miocene (from about 23 mya to 5 mya).
Nengo will collaborate with co-investigators Greg Henkes, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University, and Bill Holt, a professor of geophysics, Department of Geosciences, along with the international team. They will explore relationships between tectonics, climate and mammal evolution in the Turkana Basin using integrated field, laboratory and modeling studies. New and existing data will be combined to study the links between rift development, climate change and their respective roles in vegetation and mammal evolution.
The first two years of the initiative will focus on data collection from the field. The third year will involve laboratory analyses. In the fourth year, the team will conduct the analysis and be on site at the Turkana Basin Institute to produce a tectonic model that reconstructs rift evolution in this region of East Africa over the past 25 million years.
That tectonic model will be integrated with climate-vegetation models. Independent geological, geochemical, paleoecological and paleontological data will be used to validate these model outputs to distinguish the influences of tectonics and climate on the evolution of Turkana ecosystems and mammals.
This integrated approach across geoscience subdisciplines is really the future of paleoenvironmental reconstruction, said Henkes. The challenge of separating commingled effects of climate, tectonics and evolution is incredibly complex. We hope to leverage the best of these different approaches to demonstrate that its possible, at least at the scale of a single, very important basin. The urge to understand how our hominid ancestors responded to environmental change is so obviously of the moment. When we are out in the field in Turkana, with such intense heat and aridity, its hard to not contemplate the role climate has already played in the human origins story. This project aims to bring clarity to that evolutionary context.
This is a very exciting time to be working on such an integrated project, added Holt. Computational tools are now advanced enough to model the driving forces that impacted the 4-D evolution of the rift system, while also taking into account the coupling with climate and the resulting erosion and sedimentation. It will be possible to test models that predict the landscape response to tectonic and climate factors, all while considering the keygeological, geochemical, paleoecological and paleontological observations.
NSFs FRES also provides funding to complete extensive fieldwork that will provide training for a cohort of students and postdocs at Stony Brook University, Lamont, Rutgers, Michigan and Hamilton College.
The project also involves Tara Smiley, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, and members of the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (IDPAS) at Stony Brook.
The co-investigators include the following: Kevin Uno, Lamont associate research professor, Columbia; Craig Feibel, professor of geology and anthropology, Rutgers; Catherine Beck, assistant professor of geosciences, Hamilton College; Chris Poulsen, professor, associate dean for natural sciences, University of Michigan; and IDPAS faculty members Troy Rasbury, associate professor, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook; Gabrielle Russo, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook; Sidney Hemming, professor and chair, Lamont Earth Observatory, Columbia; Stephen Cox, associate research scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Ali Bahadori, graduate student, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook; Mae Saslaw, graduate student, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook; Sara Mana, assistant professor, geological sciences, Salem State University; Mikael Fortelius, professor of evolutionary paleontology, University of Helsinki; Indr liobait, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki; Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University; Rahab Kinyanjui, senior research scientist, National Museums of Kenya; Patricia Princehouse, senior research associate, Institute for the Science of Origins, Case Western Reserve University; Ellen Miller, professor of physical anthropology, Wake Forest University; Francis Kirera, assistant professor of anatomy, Mercer University; Nasser Malit, associate professor, biological anthropology, State University of New York at Potsdam); Peter Ungar, distinguished professor, anthropology, University of Arkansas; and Liam Zachary, graduate student, anthropology, University of Arkansas.
Permission for field and laboratory research in Kenya is provided by the Kenya Government with the support of the National Museums of Kenya.
Robert Emproto
Read more from the original source:
Turkana Basin Researchers to Probe Climate Change and Evolution in East Africa - Stony Brook News
- History of Evolution | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy [Last Updated On: December 9th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 9th, 2016]
- Evolution - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2016]
- What is Evolution - explanation and definitions [Last Updated On: December 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 21st, 2016]
- Evolution (2001 film) - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: January 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 28th, 2017]
- EvolutionM.net - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | Reviews, News ... [Last Updated On: February 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 1st, 2017]
- YMCA evolution continues at lake - Gaston Gazette [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Ivanka Trump's Beauty Evolution, From 1998 to Today Watch - Us Weekly [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Lumpy, hairy, toe-like fossil could reveal the evolution of molluscs - The Guardian [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- How Evolution Alters Biological Invasions - ScienceBlog.com (blog) [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Cultural evolution and the mutilation of women - The Economist [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Late-night hosts on the evolution of Trump: 'Dickish to dictatorish' - The Guardian [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Gold's Gym Regina rebrands to become Evolution Fitness - Regina Leader-Post [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Incremental Versus Radical Innovation: A Response to Josh Swamidass on Evolution and Cancer - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Blockchain: Investment (R)Evolution For Developing Markets - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- See the Evolution of the Famed Porsche 911 in 7 Photos - WIRED [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Exhibition charts 500 years of evolution of robots - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- How evolution turned ordinary plants into ravenous meat-eaters - Wired.co.uk [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Are Evolution Fresh Drinks 'Poison'? - snopes.com [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Non-Chromosomal DNA Drives Tumor Evolution - The Scientist [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- Chimpanzee feet allow scientists a new grasp on human foot evolution - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- 'Goldilocks' genes that tell the tale of human evolution hold clues to variety of diseases - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- Pac-Man is Coming to 'The Sandbox Evolution' Next Week - Touch Arcade [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Chimpanzee feet allow scientists a new grasp on human foot ... - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Bacteria sleep, then rapidly evolve, to survive antibiotic treatments - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Orangutan squeaks reveal language evolution, says study - BBC ... - BBC News [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Evolution gives rhyme its reason - Aurora News Register [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Deeper origin of gill evolution suggests 'active lifestyle' link in early vertebrates - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- From Tara Palmer-Tomkinson to Cara Delevingne: the evolution of the It girl - The Guardian [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Banned TED Talk: Rupert Sheldrake The Science Delusion - Collective Evolution [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- VOTD: Watch the Evolution of Keanu Reeves' Acting Career - /FILM [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Pokmon Go Eevee evolution: How to evolve Eevee into Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon with new names - Eurogamer.net [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Horse evolution bucks evolutionary theory - Science News [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Samsung's Chromebook Pro highlights the category's continued evolution - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Scientists solve fish evolution mystery - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Wildfire evolution forces Forest Service into new thinking - The Daily Progress [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- How the horse can help us answer one of evolution's biggest questions - Raw Story [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- A primer on Darwin Day: Some religious groups embrace 'Theistic evolution' - LancasterOnline [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Apple: Evolution of in-car audio tech moving at 'speed of sound ... - Times of India [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Mariska Hargitay's Evolution from '80s Glam to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - TVOvermind [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Evolution of baseball from power to speed has left SBs behind ... - Chicago Sun-Times [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- More order with less judgment: An optimal theory of the evolution of cooperation - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- J. Albert C. Uy speaks on evolution, biodiversity in bellied flycatcher population - The College Reporter [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- See the Evolution of Movie Magic With Every Oscar Winner for Visual Effects in History - Gizmodo [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Numerology: Here's What Your Name Says About You - Collective Evolution [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- The Evolution of Valentine's Day - Inside Science News Service [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Why evolution may be tech billionaires' biggest enemy - The Week Magazine [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Community Viewpoint: Evolution, like gravity, is much more than theory it is a fact - Kdminer [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- How the horse can help us answer one of evolution's biggest questions - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- How evolution alters biological invasions - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Cockeyed squid shines light on deep sea evolution - Christian Science Monitor [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Eye Evolution: A Closer Look - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Evolution always wins: University of Idaho video game uses mutating aliens to teach science concepts - The Spokesman-Review [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Geneticists track the evolution of parenting - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- How this cockeyed squid shines a light on deep sea evolution - Christian Science Monitor [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- 4 Possible Roadmaps For macOS and iOS Evolution - The Mac Observer (blog) [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- The Evolution of the Energy Capital of the World - Texas Monthly [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Humons presents an atypical dance evolution - Detroit Metro Times [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Pokemon Go Adds 80 Generation 2 Pokemon, New Evolution Items This Week - IGN [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Fossil discovery rewrites understanding of reproductive evolution ... - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- 'X-Men: Evolution' Is the Gateway Drug of Comic Book Shows - Geek [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- A cultural catch: Evolution of wooden halibut hooks carved by native ... - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Bremerton's Fitness Evolution now Planet Fitness - Kitsap Sun (blog) [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Eye Evolution: The Waiting Is the Hardest Part - Discovery Institute [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Evolution Of The Yeezy: 2009-2017 - HotNewHipHop [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Prebiotic evolution: Hairpins help each other out - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- This 'Live Birth' Fossil Could Change Humanity's Understanding Of Evolution - Daily Caller [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Mysterious Ancient Stonehenge-Like Circles Found in Amazon Rainforest - Collective Evolution [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- 'Pokemon Go': How to Evolve Poliwhirl Into Politoed - Heavy.com [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- 'Pokemon Go': How to Evolve Slowpoke Into Slowbro or Slowking - Heavy.com [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- 'Pokemon Go': How to Evolve Gloom Into Bellossom - Heavy.com [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- Pokmon Go Dragon Scale - how to evolve Seadra into Kingdra and how to get the Dragon Scale - Eurogamer.net [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- Pokmon Go Eevee evolution: How to evolve Eevee into Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon with new ... - Eurogamer.net [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- University of Pittsburgh guest speaker discloses evolution findings - UTA The Shorthorn [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- 'Pokemon Go' Special Items: Drop Rates for Evolution Items & Berries at Pokestops - Heavy.com [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- How Vedic Philosophy Influenced Nikola Tesla's Idea of 'Free Energy' - Collective Evolution [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Migration to America took long enough for evolution to happen on the way - Ars Technica [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- How To Choose Your Eevee Evolution In 'Pokmon GO:' Umbreon And Espeon Edition - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Evolution Items - IGN [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Congo River fish evolution shaped by intense rapids: Genomic study ... - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Pokmon Go - How to evolve, use Special Items, when to evolve or Power Up your Pokmon - Eurogamer.net [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]