U.S.-Japan Cooperative Research: The La Venta Fossil Primates

该奖项将使伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校的Alfred Rosenberger博士能够与日本京都大学灵长类研究所的Takeshi Setoguchi博士合作研究La Venta灵长类化石。该项目将涉及(1)描述以前在哥伦比亚拉文塔化石遗址发现的但尚未描述的标本，以及(2)在这个重要的中新世遗址发现并描述新的灵长类化石。新大陆的猴子代表了灵长类进化中最令人费解的篇章之一，主要是因为它们的化石记录太差了。Setoguchi博士主要是一名野外古生物学家，而Rosenberger博士则是研究白头猴的系统学和进化论的专家。他们的研究团队的合作不仅应该收集到大量的新化石标本，而且还应该更好地理解早期物种与现存形式的关系。

This award will enable Dr. Alfred Rosenberger of the University of Illinois at Chicago to collaborate with Dr. Takeshi Setoguchi of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan on the study of the La Venta fossil primates. The project will involve (1) describing previously found but as yet undescribed specimens from the La Venta fossil site in Columbia, and (2) finding and describing new primate fossils from this important Miocene site. The New World monkeys represent one of the most puzzling chapters in primate evolution, largely because their fossil record is so poor. Dr. Setoguchi is primarily a field paleontologist, while Dr. Rosenberger is an expert on the systematics and evolution of platyrrhine monkeys. Collaboration of their research teams should result not only in the collection of a significant number of new fossil specimens, but also in a better understanding of the relationship of early species with extant forms.