The Afar Region (Ethiopia) study area is well-known for providing one of the most complete records of human prehistory, with a now available collection of fossils from our earliest ancestors from 6 million years to the first members of our species, Homo sapiens. Fieldwork during last 40 years in this region have yielded one of the most abundant and diverse fossil small mammal assemblages associated with our early ancestors. This project provides taxonomic descriptions of these fossil collection to elucidate evolutionary history of small mammal lineages in East Africa. In addition to this, taphonomic assessment of the fossil small mammal remains will reveal the information about our early ancestors' potential hunting behaviors. One of the most important aims of the project is understanding environmental context of our hominin ancestors in East Africa by studying the fossil small mammals from the multiple geological layers of the Afar Region.

2023

2027