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Nina Jablonski, chair and associate curator, California
Academy of Sciences
Lecturing and Research: Anthropology and Archaeology,
Exploration of the Ancient Prehistory of Nepal
August 1999-January 1999
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Nepal
was the site of critical work in the field of paleontology in
1998-99. Nina Jablonski, a paleontologist and physical anthropologist
from the California Academy of Sciences greatly rewarded her host
country by doubling its fossil holdings and adding significant
data to the country's geological records. During her five-month
grant, Jablonski taught vertebrate paleontology at Tribhuvan University
and conducted field research.
It was during this latter work that the scholar's team discovered
more than 1,500 fossils of ancient mammals and reptiles, which
date back between three and 10 million years. According to the
scholar, this fossil evidence will help explain the dramatic climactic
changes that occurred as the Himalayas rose. Among the finds were
species such as the hippopotamus, the one-horned Asian rhinoceros
and the crocodile. The team's findings will be published in scientific
journals in the United States and Nepal.
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