The goal of this continued excavation of an island in Lake Victoria is to reconstruct the evolutionary divergence of Old World monkeys and apes. It will include excavations of sediments adjacent to highly productive productive primate fossil-bearing areas. Since 1987, the locality has produced many important finds including two new species of bushbabies, a compoete and undistorted skull fo the ancestral Old World monkey Victoriapithecus, and postcranial remains of Kenyapithecus which demonstrate that it is the earliest semiterrestrial ancestral hominoid in the fossil record. A major emphasis of this phase of the project will also be placed on publishing descriptions as well as phylogenetic and functional interpretations of the more than 6,000 fossil finds from this incredibly productive site.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Application #
9505778
Program Officer
Mark L. Weiss
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1995-08-01
Budget End
2000-07-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
$211,846
Indirect Cost
Name
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Carbondale
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
62901