Reassessment of the Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Status of    Australopithecus Africanus
{'Code': '04040400', 'Directorate': {'LongName': 'Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie'}, 'Division': {'LongName': 'Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Jonathan S. Friedlaender'}
Ever since 1924 when the first specimen of Australopithecus was                 found and described by Dr. Raymond Dart in South Africa, this                   fossil has been of prime interest to anthropologists.  As more                  specimens were found in subsequent years, interest increased                    largely because of controversies regarding its importance.  The                 view that the fossil is an extremely important one in the history               of our own species was slow in coming, but it is now a view held                by virtually all anthropologists.  Yet, the precise taxonomic and               phylogenetic status of Australopithecus continues to stir debate                in paleoanthropology.                                                                                                                                           The significance of this proposal is that it proposes to carry                  out a comprehensive restudy of all the South African collections                of the fossil species, Australopithecus africanus.  The principal               investigators will diagnose the species morphologically and test                propositions about its placement in the fossil record by                        assessing patterns of cranial variation and define more clearly                 the phyletic affinities of the species.
{'FirstName': 'William', 'LastName': 'Kimbel', 'EmailAddress': 'william.kimbel@asu.edu', 'StartDate': '02/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Institute of Human Origins', 'CityName': 'Berkeley', 'ZipCode': '947091211', 'PhoneNumber': '4158450333', 'StreetAddress': '2453 Ridge Road', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'California', 'StateCode': 'CA'}
{'Code': '1392', 'Text': 'Biological Anthropology'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8820113.xml'}