在人类进化过程中，行为驱动形态变化，这一成果由Nathaniel J. Dominy课题组经过不懈努力而取得。这一研究成果于2025年7月31日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《科学》上。

为了解决这个问题，课题组研究人员集中研究了一些灵长类动物化石记录中的一个令人困惑的行为：吃禾本科植物。小组报告了化石猴的碳和氧同位素比值，并将数据整合到人类饮食进化的观点中，发现graminivorothem行为的变化比牙齿形态的相应变化早了约70万年。将饮食和形态及时解耦，有助于确定饮食变化何时有助于推动人类进化，并有助于探索其中的原因。

研究人员表示，饮食的变化和相应的形态变化有时可以连续进化，而不是同时进化——这一进化过程被称为行为驱动。在化石记录中检测行为驱动是具有挑战性的，因为很难独立于相应的形态来测量行为。

附：英文原文

Title: Behavior drives morphological change during human evolution

Author: Luke D. Fannin, Chalachew M. Seyoum, Vivek V. Venkataraman, Justin D. Yeakel, Christine M. Janis, Thure E. Cerling, Nathaniel J. Dominy

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-31

Abstract: Dietary shifts and corresponding morphological changes can sometimes evolve in succession, not concurrently—an evolutionary process called behavioral drive. Detecting behavioral drive in the fossil record is challenging because it is difficult to measure behaviors independently from corresponding morphologies. To solve this problem, we focused on a puzzling behavior in the fossil record of some primates: eating graminoid plants. We report carbon and oxygen isotope ratios from fossil cercopithecid monkeys and integrate the data into a view of hominin dietary evolution, finding that changes in graminivorous behavior preceded corresponding changes in dental morphology by ~700,000 years. Decoupling diets and morphologies in time was conducive to determining when and to exploring why dietary changes helped to propel human evolution.

DOI: ado2359

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado2359