Primitive mammal named for former MSU biology professor

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

"The relevance is that at this particular time, about 40 million years ago, mammals were beginning to disperse," Horner said. "There are not a lot of good fossil records on early mammals. This is one of the pieces to that puzzle."

Several teeth were found and used to identify the primate, he said.

"At the time this took place, there was a tremendous amount of volcanic activity on that part of the state," Horner said. "The climate was more tropical than it was today."

As the volcanoes erupted, ash was spread throughout the area, causing several layers of sediment to stack on top of each other, Horner said.

"Anytime you have something that makes a good fossil, it has to have a quick burial," Horner said. "Otherwise the bone will just decompose. If it's buried, the decomposing bone is replaced by minerals."

The archeologists believe the volcanic ash buried the bones quickly, preserving them in fossil form.

The discovery was published in an article called "New Uintan primates from Texas and their implications for North American patterns of species richness during the Eocene," in the Journal of Human Evolution.

This wasn't this first discovery made on the site, and it won't be the last.

"We have described new species we have found there," Horner said. "One in the works we're still keeping under the hat."

Dalquest purchased the land that is now the Dalquest Research Site in the late '60s. What was originally intended for hunting now is used for digging.

"He had a real interest in all of the geological formations," Horner said. "He was very impressed with it."

After he donated it to MSU in 1996, the state of Texas had some land for sale on either side of it. About five years ago, MSU was able to purchase it with a portion of the Dalquest Research Fellowship fund, donated by the family for graduate students.

Rose Dalquest completed the $100,000 donation after Walter's death.

MSU now owns nearly 3,000 acres on the Brewster County line, about 30 miles north of the Mexican border.

Kirk has been orchestrating digs there for the past few years.