A central goal of paleoanthropology is understanding the role of ecological change in hominin evolution. Over the past several decades researchers have expanded the hominin fossil record and assembled detailed late Cenozoic paleoclimatic, paleoenvironmental, and paleoecological archives. However, effective use of these data is precluded by the limitations of pattern-matching strategies for inferring causal relationships between ecological and evolutionary change. We examine several obstacles that have hindered progress, and highlight recent research that is addressing them by (i) confronting an incomplete fossil record, (ii) contending with datasets spanning varied spatiotemporal scales, and (iii) using theoretical frameworks to build stronger inferences. Expanding on this work promises to transform challenges into opportunities and set the stage for a new phase of paleoanthropological research.

古人类学的一个中心目标是了解生态变化在人类进化中的作用。在过去的几十年里，研究人员扩大了人类化石记录，并收集了详细的晚新生代古气候、古环境和古生态档案。然而，由于模式匹配策略在推断生态和进化变化之间的因果关系方面存在局限性，因此无法有效使用这些数据。我们研究了阻碍进展的几个障碍，并强调了最近的研究，这些研究通过 (i) 面对不完整的化石记录，(ii) 与跨越不同时空尺度的数据集进行抗争，以及 (iii) 使用理论框架来建立更有力的推论。