Evening star., 1937-09-19
FIRST ANCESTORS
OF MANAREF FOUND
Earliest Known Forms of
Extant Mammals Are TO-
900, 900 Years Old.
BY THOMAS r, HENRY.

By THOMAS X. HENRY.
Roots of mans family tree, buried ir
100000 or more years of dead past
are uncovered in report just issued
on a large collection of fossil teeth
and bones at the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition.
They represent the life of a vast
ancient forest, lying just west of the
present-day Crazy Mountains in Cen
tral Montana. in whose high branches
scurried the first known members OF
the family of mammals to which hu-
man beings belong. In it lived over
period of millions of years, and
through various stages of evolution. a
representative fauna of animals which
preceded the ancestors of earth's ex-
tant forms.
The great bulk of the collection was
made by Albert G. Silberling of the
United States Geological Survey be-
tween 1903 and 1882. The scientific
study of the specimens was under
taken by the late DR.. James w. Gidley
of the Smithsonian staff, who gathered
numerous additional specimens on ex-
petitions Of his own into the same
region. After his death in 1881, DR..
George Gaylord Simpson of the Amer
lean Museum of Natural History was
commissioned to complete the study.
Greatest Contribution"
1t was stupendous task which he
has just completed. From a miscel-
lany of scattered teeth and a few
fossil bones, DR.. Simpson has sue
ceeded in bringing to life this long
dead world. The collection, he says
In his report represented the greatest
single contribution to knowledge of
early mammals that had ever been
made"
The fossils consisted largely of teeth
with scattered Jaws and other bones.
These were mostly remains of small
animals, chiefly tree dwellers. The
indication are that they did not perish
In any great catastrophe, such as often
was associated with the formation of
fossil beds, but died natural deaths or
were eaten by some of the crocodile
like reptiles which were dominant
creatures of the period Teeth do not
digest well in a crocodile's stomach.
These fossils represent critical
period in the history of life on earth.
For millions of years the reptiles,
among them the great dinosaurs, had
been the dominant forms Of life. From
them had arisen the mammals. Most
Of the saurians themselves had be-
come extinct.
During the millions of years repre-
sented by the Crazy Mountains beds
these animals-man's blood brothers
were coming into their own. Ma
ture was experimenting with them
and adapting their physical struc-
lures to various kinds of food and
various ways of life. Line after line
had diverged from the main stock in
the direction Of fruit eaters, meat eat
ers, herbaee eaters. Most of these
lines resulted in failure and extinc-
ton. Some were well enough adapted
to survive and became the dominant
creatures on earth today-human be-
ngs among them.
Only Four or Five Complete.
The period Is known as the Paleo-
cene-the time which intervened be-
tween the last days Of the dinosaurs
and the Eocene, or dawn, period OF
about 6o,ooo,ooo years ago. when the
actual direct ancestors of most present.
day forms OF life hrst can be distin-
guished among fossils. 1t has been a
very obscure period.
The area from which these crea-
lures came evidently was thickly for
ested and enjoyed somewhat warmer
climate than is the case today. Palms
grew with oaks and naples. The
great forest was watered by clear,
fresh streams, as is evidenced by the
fossils of fresh-water snails and
fishes.
The magnitude of the task under
taken by Dr. Simpson can be appre-
ciated from the fact that among the
hundreds Of specimens only four or
flve are complete enough to be called
skulls, and for only three are there
any surely associated limb bones.
Nothing approaching complete
skeleton has ever been found.
Thus 1t remains impossible to give
any adequate description Of what the
living creatures actually looked like.
Thus it remains impossible to give
any adequate description of what the
living creatures actually looked like.
The most significant fossils in the
collection are those of the primates
They are Of exceptional Interest"
says DR.. Simpson, as the earliest
known members Of the order to which
man belongs"
Hardly Bigger Than Mice.
Only the paleontologist could rec
ognNe IN these tiny, tree-dwelline
creatures-represented only by teeth
and 1aWs-anv rela+ionsh;n to ~.