Miocene Primates of Asia

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Dr. Pilbeam and his collaborators will continue their research into the origins of higher primates, including hominids (humans). In particular, they will focus on the earlier less well known time period which extends from ca. 15 - 7 million years ago. It was during this mid to late Miocene period that the human line likely emerged and that modern genera of anthropoid apes first appear. Unfortunately, the fossil record is very scanty, and Dr. Pilbeam's research is helping to fill this gap. With past NSF support, Dr. Pilbeam has led field projects in Pakistan and Kenya which have recovered extremely significant finds. Dr. Pilbeam will continue fieldwork in Pakistan and will analyze materials recovered both there and in Kenya. Years of search have produced extensive fossil assemblages and the team will work to elucidate patterns of development in both primates and other mammalian groups. They will reconstruct the structure of faunal communities and trace their change through time. This research is important because it traces the development of the human species. To understand ourselves as we are today, it is important to trace our long-term history and to elucidate the processes which are reflected therein.