Monday, March 1, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 3
CD
UNL professor back
from eighth Egyptian
dig hopes for another
By Pam Sitlcrs
Lloyd Tanner likes studying history - especially 30-million-year-old
history.
The UNL paleontologist and associate professor of
geology recently returned from an expedition to Egypt,
where excavators uncovered the second-known skull of
Aegyptopithccus, a small primate believed to be a com
mon ancestor of man and apes.
Tanner, 63, said he was fortunate to be part of the
Egyptian expedition led by Dr. Elwyn Simons of Duke
University.
"When Simmons came to UNL to speak in 1965,1 had
Ihc good fortune of being on the committee for his hous
ing. After the lecture we started talking about his expedit
ion, and 1 told him if he ever had an opening, I was inter
ested. I didn't think 1 had a ghost of a chance, but the
following September I went on my first expedition."
Since then, Tanner has traveled to Egypt eight times in
search of ancient fossils. He has uncovered the remains of
ancestral elephants, hippopotamuses and crocodiles, as
well as turtles 30 million years old. Tanner said that al
though it's a desert now, judging from the fossils they've
found, the Sahara Desert was once abundant with water
and had trees at least 100 feet tall.
In 1979, Tanner's wife, Mary, a scientific illustrator
and artist , and 4-year-old daughter Susan joined Tanner
on an expedition. They spent four months in the desert,
living in canvas tents and eating powdered food, 40 miles
away from civilization.
"I remember we kept having to change camps that trip
because there was so many poisonous snakes around.
They enjoyed the trip though, and Susan had fun helping
us dig."
Tanner's Nebraska excavation work has unearthed
fossils of nearly the same age as some of the Egyptian
fossils. These remains provide an important link in the Ne
braska depositional history, Tanner said. During the past
three years he has collected fossils at a site in Ash 1 follow
Park near Ogallala. He has unearthed bones from 18
different types of extinct bison, giving insight into how
man butchered bison some 8,000 to 9,000 years ago.
Tanner, who has been collecting fossils since 1938, is
curator of vertebrate paleontology and coordinator of
systematic collections at the NU Staje Museum.
He was recognized last week at a luncheon for 35 years
of service to UNL. Tanner is also a field associate for the
Duke University Primate Center.
"Right now we're applying for money for another
expedition," Tanner said. The expeditionists receive
money through the American Museum of Natural History
and the Egyptian Geological Survey.
"We're still hoping to find new information to give us a
better understanding of life long ago," he said.
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