Dr. Simons and his colleagues will, over the course of three seasons of field research, collect primate and associated vertebrate and plant fossils from sediments of Oligocene age located in the Fayum region of Egypt. The field party members will seek, quarry, and sift rocks and sands to find fossils. The many kinds of fossil primates occurring in the Fayum include species thought to be the oldest known common ancestors of monkeys, apes, and humans. Recovery of postcranial elements, skulls, and new kinds of primates during these three seasons should significantly advance knowledge of the extent and nature of early higher primates. This research will help solve the question of which earlier primate family gave rise to the group that includes humans, monkeys, and apes. Since the fossil primates come from several quite different levels in the Fayum and are only inferentially dated from an overlying basalt, more accurate dating by magnetic reversal stratigraphy will be attempted. Because knowledge of the environmental context of each of the primate species helps in understanding its evolution, geological floral and faunal information will be collected at each primate site. This research is important because it increases our understanding of both the history and the forces which led to the emergence of the human lineage. Dr. Simons and his team have worked in the Fayum for many years and in each season have discovered significant new fossils. The Fayum is unique because it is the only site in the Old World which contains such fossil remains of Oligocene age.
