Anthropological and Paleontological Research at the Fossil Primate Sites of the Fayum, Egypt

在过去的二十年里，埃尔温·西蒙斯（Elwyn Simons）在埃及法尤姆洼地（Fayum Depression）的发掘工作提供了早期猴子进化的重大发现和文献。这是一个非凡的地方，西蒙斯博士一直非常勤奋和勤奋。这个遗址几乎成了渐新世的代名词，大约在3000万年前，也就是第一批猴子开始出现的时候。最近，Simons和他的同事们在Fayum发现了一个新的地点，这个地点可以追溯到更早的始新世，将猴子化石的时间深度追溯到它们起源的时间。他们刚刚开始调查这个被称为“第41号地点”的矿床。这些发现已经证明了以下几点：数量惊人的不同猴子（类人猿）和早期猴子进化的“商业”——大量的实验。2. 早期猴子广泛的适应性多样性。3. 这些动物在结构上的原始特性。这个为期三年的新奖项无疑将导致大量新的灵长类动物化石和其他脊椎动物化石的发现。到目前为止，在L-41收集到的始新世灵长类动物都是新的物种，其中许多比在其他地方发现的更完整。这是一次非常令人兴奋的发掘，新发现的前景非常好。

Over the last two decades, Elwyn Simons' excavations at the Fayum Depression in Egypt have provided the major discoveries and documentation of early monkey evolution. It is a remarkable site, and Dr. Simons has been extremely diligent and industrious. The period for which this site has almost come to be synonymous with is the Oligocene, roughly 30 million years ago, near the time when the first monkeys began to appear. Recently, Simons and his colleagues have found a new locality at the Fayum which dates from an earlier period, the Eocene, extending back the time depth of fossil monkeys to the time of their origination. They have just begun to investigate this deposit, known as Locality 41. Already, the finds have demonstrated the following: 1. a surprisingly high number of different monkeys (anthropoids) and a `bushiness` of early monkey evolution - lots of experimentation. 2. broad adaptive diversity of early monkeys. 3. the structurally primitive qualityof these animals. This new award for three years will undoubtedly lead to a whole host of new fossil primate and other vertebrate finds. All the Eocene primates collected thusfar at L-41 represent new taa and many are more complete than those found elsewhere. This is a very exciting excavation with extremely good prospects for new discoveries.