The Miocene strata in South America contain rich deposits of fossil vertebrates in places, including an important record of monkey evolution in the New World. Dr. Richard Kay proposes to expand his successful research on the Miocene vertebrates of Chile through field work in Colombia and Argentina. The proposed research in Colombia will provide important new information concerning the tropical forest fauna of South America during the Miocene. His research team will include several U.S. scientists specializing on geochronology of the regions and non.primate fossils, as well as several in.country collaborators. The proposed inter.disciplinary international research project will have wide implications. Several South American nationals will gain experience in the latest approaches to magneto.stratigraphy and isotopic age dating. New fossil discoveries may shed light on the evolutionary history of New World vertebrate lineages. These fossils will provide the best view to date of the South American fauna prior to the interchange between North and South America approximately 3 millino years ago, following the rise of the Panamanian Isthmus. Results from this project will be of interest to mammalogists, anthropologists, geologists with many interests, biogeographers, and evolutionary biologists.
