Investigating the Origin and Early Evolution of Primates in Asia

这项研究旨在阐明我们对灵长类和人类进化知识中剩余的最大空白之一-理解最早的灵长类何时、何地和如何进化。现代灵长类动物包括狐猴、懒猴、丛林幼崽、鞑靼、猴子、猿猴和人类。目前，化石记录不足以解决关于灵长类进化最早阶段的一些重要问题。目前，最古老的灵长类化石大约有5500万年的历史。然而，到这个时候，灵长类动物已经拥有了几乎现代的解剖学，它们已经分化成几个主要的类群。这两点都意味着灵长类经历了一段更早的进化史，到目前为止，古生物学家还没有做出最大的努力。由于最近的灵长类活着和化石亲属都在亚洲，我们将在该大陆寻找更多早期灵长类动物的化石证据。具体地说，我们将调查内蒙古适当年龄的化石地层，以测试灵长类在亚洲是否比地球上其他地方出现得更早。该地区的初步田野调查表明，可以在那里发现大量居住在树上的小型哺乳动物化石，这表明一旦收集到合理的样本，也会发现早期的灵长类动物。我们还将对亚洲灵长类化石进行解剖学和进化学研究，这些研究是我们早先在该地区进行探险时收集的。此外，这项研究将表明，亚洲拥有的早期灵长类动物比之前怀疑的要多得多。这些新的和未被描述的亚洲灵长类动物中，有一些与来自北美的化石有关，而另一些与非洲的化石有相似之处。一旦这些新的亚洲化石的进化研究完成，我们将更好地了解全球气候变化和大陆漂移如何影响我们远亲灵长类的早期进化。这个项目将通过以下方式推动更广泛的社会目标：(1)通过畅销书、杂志文章、博物馆展览和公开讲座增加公众对进化生物学和古人类学的理解；(2)培训学生古生物学和古人类学的实践和理论方面；(3)加强美国和中国科学家之间的国际合作；以及(4)产生独特的化石收藏，这些化石将成为未来几代学者的永久资源。

This research aims to illuminate one of the largest remaining gaps in our knowledge of primate and human evolution-understanding when, where, and how the earliest primates evolved. Modern primates include lemurs, lorises, bushbabies, tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans. Currently, the fossil record is inadequate to resolve a number of important questions about the earliest phases of primate evolution. At present, the oldest fossil primates are roughly 55 million years old. However, by this time primates already possessed virtually modern anatomy, and they had already diversified into several major groups. Both of these points imply that primates experienced some earlier interval of evolutionary history that has so far eluded the best efforts of paleontologists. Because the nearest living and fossil relatives of primates are found in Asia, we will search for additional fossil evidence of early primates on that continent. Specifically, we will survey fossil-bearing strata of appropriate age in Inner Mongolia to test whether primates appear earlier in Asia than they do elsewhere on the planet. Preliminary fieldwork in this region has shown that small, tree-dwelling fossil mammals can be recovered there in great abundance, suggesting that early primates will also be found once reasonable samples are collected. We will also undertake anatomical and evolutionary studies of fossil primates from Asia that were collected by our earlier expeditions to this region. Among other things, this research will show that Asia harbored a wider range of early primates than was previously suspected. Some of these new and undescribed Asian primates are related to fossils from North America, while others share affinities with African fossils. Once evolutionary studies of these new Asian fossils are completed, we will have a much greater understanding of how global climate change and continental drift impacted the early evolution of our distant primate relatives.This project will advance broader societal objectives by: (1) increasing public understanding of evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology through popular books, magazine articles, museum exhibits, and public lectures; (2) training students in practical and theoretical aspects of paleontology and paleoanthropology; (3) enhancing international collaboration among American and Chinese scientists; and (4) generating a unique collection of fossils that will become a permanent resource for scholars for generations to come.