Roberts Patrick, Boivin Nicole, Lee-Thorp Julia, Petraglia Michael, Stock Jay
Evol Anthropol. 2016 Nov;25(6):306-317. doi: 10.1002/evan.21508.
Tropical forests constitute some of the most diverse and complex terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. From the Miocene onward, they have acted as a backdrop to the ongoing evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, and provided the cradle for the emergence of early hominins, who retained arboreal physiological adaptations at least into the Late Pliocene. There also now exists growing evidence, from the Late Pleistocene onward, for tool-assisted intensification of tropical forest occupation and resource extraction by our own species, Homo sapiens. However, between the Late Pliocene and Late Pleistocene there is an apparent gap in clear and convincing evidence for the use of tropical forests by hominins, including early members of our own genus. In discussions of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene hominin evolution, including the emergence and later expansion of Homo species across the globe, tropical forest adaptations tend to be eclipsed by open, savanna environments. Thus far, it is not clear whether this Early-Middle Pleistocene lacuna in Homo-rainforest interaction is real and representative of an adaptive shift with the emergence of our species or if it is simply reflective of preservation bias.
热带森林是地球上一些最多样化和最复杂的陆地生态系统。从中新世开始，它们就一直是我们现存的近亲——大猩猩持续进化的背景，并为早期人类的出现提供了摇篮，这些早期人类至少在上新世晚期仍保留着树栖的生理适应性。现在也有越来越多的证据表明，从更新世晚期开始，我们自己的物种——智人通过工具辅助加强了对热带森林的占领和资源开采。然而，在上新世晚期和更新世晚期之间，关于包括我们自己属的早期成员在内的古人类使用热带森林的明确且有说服力的证据存在明显空白。在讨论上新世晚期和更新世早期的古人类进化时，包括人类物种在全球的出现和后来的扩张，热带森林适应性往往被开阔的稀树草原环境所掩盖。到目前为止，尚不清楚更新世早中期人类与雨林相互作用中的这一空白是真实的，代表着随着我们物种的出现而发生的适应性转变，还是仅仅反映了保存偏差。
