Exploration for Fossil Primates in the Carbonatites of Namibia

纳米比亚碳酸岩中灵长类化石的勘探

基本信息

批准号：
9714589
负责人：
Frederick Grine
金额：
$ 1.98万
依托单位：
SUNY at Stony Brook
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
1998
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
1998-01-01 至 1999-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9714589&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Exploration Fossil Primates Carbonatites Namibia

项目摘要

Fossil bones of primates, including the remains of several species that are closely related to the human lineage, have been recovered from a number of sites in South Africa. Fossils such as these, however, are very poorly known from other areas of southern Africa (e.g., Botswana, Angola, and Namibia). Almost all the fossils from these sites accumulated in karst caves that had formed in the limestones that outcrop in South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Namibia. These limestone caves have yielded only a few fossilized primate bones. However, there are a number of very old volcanic intrusives in Namibi, and the chemical composition of these rocks makes them equally susceptible to cave formation through water dissolution. Eleven carbonatite intrusives have been identified throughout Namibia. Fossils dating from about 100 thousand to some 2.5 million years ago have been discovered in two karst cave systems that formed in one of these intrusives. This project will explore the remaining ten carbonatites in Namibia to determine whether they also contain fossiliferous cave sediments of Cenozoic age. In particular, it is hoped that additional sites that may contain fossil primate bones will be identified by this survey. Any such fossils will add significantly to our understanding of primate evolution and paleoecology in Africa.

灵长类动物的化石骨头，包括与人类谱系密切相关的几种物种的遗体，已从南非的许多地点回收。然而，从南部非洲的其他地区（例如博茨瓦纳，安哥拉和纳米比亚）中，诸如此类的化石非常众所周知。这些地点的几乎所有化石都积聚在喀斯特洞穴中，这些洞穴在南非，博茨瓦纳，安哥拉和纳米比亚的石灰石中形成。这些石灰石洞穴仅产生了几个化石的灵长类动物骨骼。但是，纳米比有许多非常古老的火山侵入物，这些岩石的化学成分使它们同样容易通过水溶解而造成形成。在整个纳米比亚，已经确定了11种碳酸盐侵入物。在其中一种侵入物中形成的两个喀斯特洞穴系统中发现了从约1万到250万年前的化石。该项目将探索纳米比亚剩余的十个碳酸盐岩，以确定它们是否还含有碳植物年龄的化石洞穴沉积物。特别是，希望该调查将确定可能包含化石灵长类动物骨骼的其他站点。任何这样的化石都将大大增加我们对非洲灵长类动物进化和古生态学的理解。