研究人员报告了在肯尼亚科比福拉发现的约150万年前的足迹，这是首次发现两种不同的更新世古人类双足行走模式，出现在同一足迹表面的证据。新的分析表明，这种现象在东图尔卡纳盆地多个同时期的遗址中反复出现。
这些数据表明直立人和博伊西副人类之间存在共生关系，提示湖泊边缘栖息地对这两种物种都很重要，并强调了共存、竞争以及生态位分割等不同共存程度对人类演化可能产生的影响。
据介绍，在大部分上新世和更新世时期，多个古人类物种在东非和南非的同一地区共存。由于骨骼化石记录的局限性，关于它们种间相互作用的问题仍未得到解答。
附：英文原文
Title: Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins
Author: Kevin G. Hatala, Neil T. Roach, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Peter L. Falkingham, Stephen M. Gatesy, Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, Craig S. Feibel, Ibrae Dalacha, Martin Kirinya, Ezekiel Linga, Richard Loki, Apolo Alkoro, Longaye, Malmalo Longaye, Emmanuel Lonyericho, Iyole Loyapan, Nyiber Nakudo, Cyprian Nyete, Louise N. Leakey
Issue&Volume: 2024-11-29
Abstract: For much of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, multiple hominin species coexisted in the same regions of eastern and southern Africa. Due to the limitations of the skeletal fossil record, questions regarding their interspecific interactions remain unanswered. We report the discovery of footprints (~1.5 million years old) from Koobi Fora, Kenya, that provide the first evidence of two different patterns of Pleistocene hominin bipedalism appearing on the same footprint surface. New analyses show that this is observed repeatedly across multiple contemporaneous sites in the eastern Turkana Basin. These data indicate a sympatric relationship between Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei, suggesting that lake margin habitats were important to both species and highlighting the possible influence of varying levels of coexistence, competition, and niche partitioning in human evolution.
DOI: ado5275
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado5275