Dissertation Research: Mammalian Paleoecology of the Fayum of Egypt

关于高等灵长类动物（类人猿）早期进化的信息主要来自埃及法尤姆的发掘。多年来，关于Fayum灵长类化石的许多描述已经发表，但很少有人试图将它们放在生态环境的背景下，或者它们与其他现存哺乳动物物种的生态关系。该项目将试图详细了解Fayum社区的哺乳动物组成部分及其结构随时间的变化。对保存在杜克大学的Fayum化石的物种鉴定已经开始，并将完成对开罗地质博物馆收藏的化石的鉴定。鉴定将通过牙齿分析来完成。有了物种相对丰度的数据，pi将能够调查组成随时间和可能的空间的变化，从而提供更清晰的高等灵长类动物起源图。

Information on the early evolution of the higher primates (anthropoids) is largely known from excavations at the Fayum in Egypt. Many descriptions of the Fayum fossil primates have been published over the years but there has been little attempt to put them in the context of an ecological setting or their ecological relationships to other extant mammalian species. This project will seek to detail the mammalian component of the Fayum community and any changes in its structure over time. Identification of species has already been initiated on the Fayum fossils housed at Duke University and will be completed on those in the collection at the Cairo Geological Museum. Identification will be accomplished through dental analysis. With data on the relative abundance of species, the PIs will be able to investigate changes in the composition over time and possibly space and thus provide a clearer picture of the origin of the higher primates.