For nearly a half century, Dr. Elwyn Simons has dominated the study of primate evolution. This volume summarizes the current state of knowledge in many aspects of primate and human evolution that have been studied by Simons and his colleagues and places it in a broader paleontological and historical perspective.

A Search for Origins contains the results of new research and reviews of many of the critical issues in primate and human paleontology during the last half of the twentieth century as well as other aspects of African paleontology, geology, and primate conservation.

The chapters include a wide range of important new works that are valuable contributions to the field of physical anthropology and are certain to be widely cited and used in teaching. The authors of this text are an extremely distinguished group of international authorities on all aspects of primate evolution, human evolution, and primate behavior.

Auteur
Elwyn Simons has held professional appointments at Yale University (1960-1977), Duke University (1977-present), and was the Director of the Duke Primate Center (1977-1991) and Scientific Director (1991-2001). He has authored nearly 300 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, as well as many other professional associations. He was elected a Knight of the National Order by the government of Madagascar and has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

Contenu
The Life of a Scientist.- to the Festschrift.- Elwyn LaVerne Simons.- A Personal Reminiscence of Elwyn.- Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark.- Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark.- Human Evolution and the Challenge of Creationism.- The Fayum and Other Fossil Adventures.- Five Decades in the Fayum.- Geology, Paleoenvironment, and Age of Birket Qarun Locality 2 (BQ-2), Fayum Depression, Egypt.- Eocene and Oligocene Mammals of the Fayum, Egypt.- Early Evolution of Whales.- The Basicranial Anatomy of African Eocene/Oligocene Anthropoids. Are There Any Clues for Platyrrhine Origins?.- Paleontological Exploration in Africa.- Return to Dor al-Talha.- Revisiting Haritalyangar, the Late Miocene Ape Locality of India.- Revisiting Primate Postcrania from the Pondaung Formation of Myanmar.- A Haplorhine First Metatarsal from the Middle Eocene of China.- New Data on Loveina (Primates: Omomyidae) from the early Eocene Wasatch Formation and Implications for Washakiin Relationships.- The Behavioral Ecology of our Earliest Hominid Ancestors.- The Fayum and Other Fossil Adventures.- Decades of Lemur Research and Conservation.- Low Fetal Energy Deposition Rates in Lemurs.- Old Lemurs.- Peculiar Tooth Homologies of the Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur = Hapalemur simus).- How Big were the Giant Extinct Lemurs of Madagascar?.- Ghosts and Orphans.- Vicariance vs. Dispersal in the Origin of the Malagasy Mammal Fauna.- On the Brink of Extinction.