Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-27
ORIGINAL RANCE OF ANIMALS
New Theory Rale6 o. Discovery of Fossil
Monkey IN Wyoming.
RESEARCHES MADE BY YALE Professor
Prehistor5c Relies in a Region once
I'm tia Trorjc B~eIt-secrets of
Ancient bones and Petri-
fed PInnta.

In the list summer two Yale scientific
explorers-Dr. ]. L. Workman and q. n.
Wieland-o of the staff Of the Peabody mu-
scum at Yale, carried on the most success
1ul explorations OF the fossil deposits in
wyoming that have been reported since the
days IF Prof. o. c. Marsh. Mr.. wieland
returied to Yale a few weeks ago. after a
nve months stay in Wyoming, Dakota and
MJltana, relates a correspondent of the
ffvw York Tribune. He brought back with
him a considerable collection Of mammoth
prehistoric North American turtles. besides
a valuable collection OF fossil plants, which
he found In the eocene beds Of those re-
gions, and which add their proof to the
theory that at one time all the northern
part OF the United States was tropical in
climate and bore most luxurious tropical
plant life. The discoveries Of DIT. Wort
man are regarded Of great scientific value.
as he found additional remains Of fossil
North American monkeys.
In a paper which DIR. Workman is soon to
publish in the American Journal Of Science
his fossil monkey will be fully described.
Yale scientists who have seen the specl-
mems which he brought back with him from
Wyoming say without reserve that pr.
Wor,man's discovery lie to be ranked with
the most important archaeological Bnds
Of recent years.
DR.. Wortman's eollaborators in palaeon-
tological work at Yale say that his work
and the deductions he has been led to draw
from It will prove the beginning of an en-
tirely new understanding of the origin and
distribution of mammalia on the earth.
While Dr.. Workman is to announce this
discovery and the theory he has drawn
from It to the scientific world shortly, THE
Is the 0rst announcement that he has per-
mitted to be made of II in the public press.
BASIS Of a New heory.
The generally accepted position of zoolo-
glsts and geologists at the present day as
20 the origin of animal life on the earth
rs that its beginnings are to be looked for
In the present tropical zones; that the
North American fauna branched out from
the old world fauna by migration from
their ancestral home, and that man origl-
mated somewhere in the dense tropical re-
gions of the old world. Java. probably. 1t
is not too much to say that II the long
series Of Investigations devoted to this
subject by DR.. Workman prove to be true,
these hypothesis Of the scientists will have
TO be remodeled to a large extent. From
the monkey fossil remains discovered by
Leidy and Marsh some twenty odd years
ago, and from the new and conclusive dts
covery made by DR.. Workman this summer.
an entirely new and much more logical
theory is deduced.
The theory of a boreal origin of the
apes. monkeys and lemurs. and, in fact, Of
the great majority of the mammalia, sup
ported as 1t H. by the facts in the possess
sion Of DIR, Workman, and collected to a
considerable degree by his own hands, is
likely, when 1t is launched. to create n stir
in the scientific world. ~ expect, OF course,
great opposition to this new view at nrst."
said DIR. Workman today, but l am sure
of mZ ground. and have abundant and In
confrovertlble evidence in these fossil re-
mans to prove It."
WyominE'a Ancient Monkeys.
The fossil remains which have led the
Yale scientist to take this advanced posi-
ton are those OF the eocene monkey, found
in rock bed in the Bridger basin Of Wyom-
ing. Not larger than a common house cat,
this fossil skull is in almost a complete
state OF preservation, Notwithstanding its
burial in Wyoming rock for perhaps 1,OO0,-
600 years. DR.. Workman says regarding
this conclusion:
II my deductions from this new evidence
are correct, two things are evident. First,
that the present South American monkey
did not migrate from any old world To-
cality, and is not the descendant Of any
old world species, as Is now commonly be-
lievcd. Instead, he Is the direct descendant
OF the prehistoric monkeys whose fossil
remains have from time to time been un-
earthed In Wyoming, and the final remnant
of which i found this summer. From that
fact II must Of necessity be believed that
migration southwark from the polar re-
gions across the United States to South
America took place among the monkeys as
life, excepting OF course such species as
became extinct on the way. 1t must also
be accepted that at the time the increasing
cold In the north forced the monkeys into
South America, where they are now only to
bo found. a bridge OF forests connected
North and South America. II this is true,
and this evidence says II is. then the geology
of this continent will have to be revised,
as geology now has It that during the
time Of this migration North and South
America were divided by an ocean. AS
monkeys do not swim, geology, In the light
of this new evidence, will have to revise
some Of its teachings as 90 the formation
and history of the American continents. I
believe that this will be done, and that
future Investigations In the Mexican PENN
suIa will prove present geology views
wrong In this respect.
Secondly. II the logical deductions from
these fossil remains In Wyoming. not alone
Of monkeys, but OF other faunae, are cor
rect, and entirely new theory Will have
TO be constructed regarding the origin Of
certain forms of life on this planet. l
have come to the conclusion. based on the
evidence given by these and other fossil
remains, that the origin Of ape fauna and
the greater part Of the mammals OF this
continent was In the north. and that the
apes Of the old and the new world had q
common origin In a c~ircumpolar region,
which at that time had a tropical climate.
This is also true. OF course, Of the nora.
We have SUFFICIENT data in fossil plants to
assure ourselves that plant life also orig
mated in this region.
solving PerPIeEiRs Questions.
The discovery by Leidy. Marsh and my
self OF fossil monkeys in deposits Of the
eOeene period in Wyoming Will probably
help 10 solve questions OF the greatest
scientific importance In regard TO origin
and distribution OF fauna on the earth.
From what source, for instance, sprang the
South American spesf They are different
from the apes OF the old world. Did thew
originate In the old world and descend
from old world monkeys. as some scientists
believei Or aid they migrate northward