GEORGIAN UPPER MIOCENE

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Georgian Upper Miocene, Georgia

8 - 9 Ma

The Georgian Late Miocene Project joined RHOI in 2003 and has since explored many upper Miocene fossil-bearing localities. Exploration of one such locality in the semi-arid Garedji area (Udabno, southern Georgia, near Azerbadjan), was aimed at temporally placing Udabnopithecus garedziensis (Burtshak and Gabashvili 1945) in the Late Miocene despite its sparse fossil record. Morphometric methodology, in concert with bibliographic data, litostratigraphy, micromammal determinations, and magnetostratigraphy, indicated an age of 8.8 Ma. for U. garedziensis, making it one of the youngest dryopithecines in Eurasia.

Exploratory field work in Dzedzvtakhevi, Iagludja, and the Iori plateau is yielding many new fossils and geologic data.

In addition, RHOI support helped fund organization and conservation of Miocene collections at the Georgian National Museum (GNM) and the Institute of Paleobiology (IPB).