Dissertation Research: Mammalian Paleontology at an Old World Monkey Locality, Wadi Moghara, Egypt

论文研究：旧世界猴子栖息地的哺乳动物古生物学，埃及莫加拉干河

• 批准号: 9408310
• 负责人: David Rasmussen
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-08-01 至 1995-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9408310&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Mammalian; Paleontology; Old

9408310 Tab Rasmussen/Ellen Miller During the lower Miocene, the African-Arabian and Turkish tectonic plates collide, resulting in a land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. For the first time in the entire Cenozoic, animal could move between those two continents. Before then in Africa, the isolated animal species were mostly primates, elephants, hyraxes, and cerodonts. In this new period, new primates, carnivores, and hooved animals appeared for the first time, and much of the present day fauna can be traced to that period, including the origin and early evolution of the Old World monkeys. Many of these important early Miocene animals are preserved as fossils in the rocks at Wadi Moghara, although most of the African sites of this period are in the East African Rift Valley system. The taxonomic diversity of the fossils at Moghara, coupled with the site's great distance from most other early Miocene localities, makes the further study and excavation at Moghara important. This project, by a graduate student, will result in the collection of more fossil mammals from this important site, an examination of all Moghara museum specimens and important comparative collections, a revision of the systematics of the Moghara mammals, and an investigation of the relationships between these mammals and other early Miocene faunas. It will make important paleontological contributions as well as aiding in the training of a new scientist.

9408310 Tab Rasmussen/Ellen Miller 在中新世晚期，非洲-阿拉伯板块和土耳其板块碰撞，在非洲和欧亚大陆之间形成了一座陆桥。 在整个新生代，动物第一次可以在这两个大陆之间移动。 在此之前，在非洲，孤立的动物种类主要是灵长类动物、大象、蹄兔和刻齿兽。 在这个新时期，新的灵长类动物、食肉动物和有蹄动物首次出现，当今的许多动物群都可以追溯到那个时期，包括旧世界猴子的起源和早期进化。 尽管这一时期的大多数非洲遗址都位于东非大裂谷系统中，但许多重要的中新世早期动物都以化石形式保存在莫加拉干河的岩石中。莫加拉化石的分类多样性，加上该遗址与大多数其他早中新世地点相距甚远，使得莫加拉的进一步研究和挖掘变得非常重要。 该项目由一名研究生负责，将从这个重要地点收集更多哺乳动物化石，检查所有莫加拉博物馆标本和重要的比较藏品，修订莫加拉哺乳动物的系统学，并对相互关系进行调查这些哺乳动物和其他早期中新世动物群之间的关系。 它将做出重要的古生物学贡献并帮助培训新科学家。