The investigators will explore promising geologic deposits in the Madagascar for the remains of Cretaceous mammals. If the expedition is successful, the discoveries could revolutionize our understanding of: (1) the origin, biogeography and evolution of the Madagascar mammalian fauna, which id highly endemic and unbalanced; (2) the biogeography of mammals on other Gondwanan land masses; (3) the pattern and timing of the separation of the Madagascar from the African mainland; (4) the pattern and timing of mammals faunal migrations to (? and from) the island. Of especial interest among the mammals in the origin and evolution of Madagascar's unique primate (lemur) fauna, groups which are known only from the sub-fossil Quaternary record.
