Scientists in Madagascar, Vienna and New York alongside a University of Massachusetts professor have been the essential collaborators in a century-long discovery and reconstruction effort regarding an almost complete skeleton of an extinct lemur.
"What in the world could be more interesting than lemurs?" said UMass anthropology professor and primate paleontologist Laurie Godfrey.
The reconstruction effort began in 1899 when an expert fossil collector Franz Sikora found the first specimen of the recently extinct Hadropithecus stenognathus, one of the most poorly understood species of lemur. The discovery was made in the Andrahomana caves located in south-eastern Madagascar.
More recently in 2003, Godfrey and colleagues made an important discovery of additional lemur bones and fragments belonging to the same species that was discovered over 100 years ago.
"This was significant because this species is poorly known, and very unusual for a lemur. It had an unusual diet and locomotor pattern. It grew very slowly for a lemur, almost as slowly as our closest relatives, the chimpanzees," Godfrey said. "I think the most fascinating aspect of this story is the discovery of bits and pieces of the same individual in 1899 and then in 2003."
The reuniting of the 1899 and 2003 fossils has lead to valuable information regarding the lemur species. This past August, Godfrey and Natalie Vasey, an anthropology professor at Portland State University who was part of the 2003 excavation, had casts made of all the bones in an effort to unite the two sets of fossils.
"Because pieces actually fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, we knew we were dealing with a single individual, and that we had the most complete skeleton of this species ever discovered," Godfrey said.
The majority of the fossils can be found at the Vienna Natural History Museum in Austria where scientist are able to perform further research.
"Laurie has been able to reconstruct the growth rate of the lemur by looking at the growth lines in the teeth. Additionally we have lots of parts of the thorax, ribs and vertebrae and we think that the lemur had a narrow chest cavity," said Vasey. "This is an indicator that the lemur was more of a terrestrial animal unlike most lemurs who do not use the ground a lot."
Godfrey's research isn't always as boring as it may sound to non-anthropologists.
On first day of excavation, when hiking from the campsite to the cave, she was hit by a tidal bore endangering her life.
"I was hit by a great bore wave, and found myself in a whirlpool of raging water near the entrance to the cave," Godfrey said. "I suffered only head wounds, but it was pretty scary for the others who just saw me disappear under the wall of water not to emerge for almost a minute."
For decades Godfrey has been researching lemur fossils and searching for new specimens. She is currently writing a book about her adventures excavating sites around the world.
"Science is supposed to be very objective but parts of it are really truly exciting for scientists and it was emotional reuniting this animal that has been separated or over 100 years whose fossils had survived for more than 1,000 years," Vasey said. "This whole story is pretty dramatic, the life story of an animal becoming a fossil then being found by humans to be studied and in turn giving the humans the opportunity to learn more about the species."
Joshua Walovitch can be reached at jwalovit@student.umass.edu
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