Every summer, scientists from Duke University’s Lemur Center embark on an expedition to Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin to uncover fossils of early lemur-like primates, offering crucial insights into the evolutionary origins of modern primates, including humans, Cowboy State Daily reports.
The Bridger Basin, often referred to as the “Madagascar of the Eocene,” provides an unparalleled window into a world that existed roughly 56 million years ago.
The Duke Lemur Center, known for housing the most diverse population of living lemurs outside of Madagascar, is dedicated to the conservation of these endangered primates. Paleontologist Matthew Bortz, curator of fossils at the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History, leads these expeditions. His goal is to understand the prehistoric origins of primates to better inform their conservation today.
“The primate story starts in North America, and some of the best specimens have come from Wyoming,” Bortz explained.
He noted the significance of the Bridger Basin in piecing together the evolutionary puzzle.
The fossils unearthed in Wyoming date back to the Eocene Period, around 56 to 34 million years ago, when mammals began to diversify after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Bortz and his team focus on finding remnants of early primates, such as Notharctus, a lemur-like mammal with grasping hands and forward-facing eyes, traits that would later define primates.
“The Bridger Basin is where we find primates in the fossil record in North America,” Bortz said.
The fossils from this region have provided vital clues about how early mammals adapted to a changing world.
Unlike the complete skeletons often depicted in museums, the team typically finds isolated teeth and fragments, which still offer invaluable information. These fragments help scientists understand the rise and eventual decline of primate diversity in North America during the Eocene.
Bortz sees parallels between the extinction of early primates in the Eocene and the challenges modern lemurs face today, including habitat loss and climate change. Understanding how ancient primates disappeared may provide insights into how to prevent modern extinctions.
“Primates are going extinct in Madagascar right now… The question is, what can we learn from their ancient relatives to help protect them today?,” Bortz said.
The dream for Bortz and his team would be to find an omomyid, a tiny primate more closely related to humans. These fossils are rare due to their small size, but finding one would be a significant breakthrough in understanding the earliest ancestors of modern primates.
While the fossils collected in Wyoming are housed at the Duke Lemur Center’s Museum of Natural History in Durham, North Carolina, they remain accessible for public viewing and research. The ongoing work in the Bighorn Basin is part of a global quest to trace the evolutionary journey of primates from North America to Africa and eventually to Madagascar.
“It’s about picking up the pieces from the prehistoric past to understand how to protect these animals in the future,” Bortz said.
