The Captain Marshall Field Expeditions were undertaken by the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The two Captain Marshall Field paleontological expeditions had the goal of finding South American

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

mammals. The mammals of South America had evolved in near total isolation from the rest of the world from almost the beginning of the

Era until only a few million years ago.

Captain Marshall Field Brazilian Expedition

In addition to his regular annuity of $100,000, in 1927 Captain Marshall Field provided $40,000 to defray the expenses of the Brazilian Expedition under the leadership of Mr. George K. Cherrie. Mrs. Marshall Field III and Mrs. Ernest Thompson Seton were members of this expedition, and the following members of the Museum staff participated: * Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Acting Curator of the Department of Botany, assisted by J. R. Millar and George Petersen * Professor Henry W. Nichols, Associate Curator of Geology * Assistant Curator Karl P. Schmidt and Assistant Colin C. Sanborn of the Department of Zoology From the Captain Marshall Field Brazilian Expedition the Library of the Field Museum has received 144 works, which were immediately useful in identifying and classifying the material collected. Some of these publications could be obtained only by the personal efforts of members of the staff while in Brazil.

1st Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition to Argentina and Bolivia

The ''1st Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition to Argentina and Bolivia'' was undertaken by

Elmer S. Riggs Elmer Samuel Riggs (January 23, 1869 – March 25, 1963) was an American paleontologist known for his work with the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Biography He was born in Trafalgar, Indiana, and moved with his family ...

. His field crew included George F. Sternberg, John B. Abbott, Jose Strucco and C. Harold Riggs. The expedition started 1922 and finished in 1925. The objective was to find new fossil mammals from

deposits in

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

and Santa Cruz Province of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and the Tarija Valley of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. The expedition succeeded in securing over 900 fossil vertebrate specimens including 12 new species with 12

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

s, 14

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...

s and over 50 specimens since figured in scientific publications. While prospecting in the

, brief forays into

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

deposits in the San Bernardo Hills of

Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...

unearthed three leg bones of enormous sauropods identified as

Antarctosaurus ''Antarctosaurus'' (; meaning "southern lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. The type species, ''Antarctosaurus wichmannianus'', and a second species, ''Antarctosau ...

and

Argyrosaurus ''Argyrosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Argentina. Discovery and naming The type species, ''Argyrosaurus superbus'', was formall ...

2nd Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition to Argentina and Bolivia

The ''2nd Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition to Argentina and Bolivia'' was undertaken in 1926, again under the leadership of

. This time his field crew included

Rudolf Stahlecker Rudolf Stahlecker (25 November 1898 in Sternenfels near Pforzheim – 26 October 1977 in Urach) was a German geologist and biology teacher. Biography He studied with the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene at the University of T� ...

Robert C. Thorne Robert Coin Thorne (25 November 1898 – 27 May 1960) was an American paleontologist. Life Thorne was born in Ashley, Utah. He participated at the '' 2nd Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition'' in 1926. Other participants were Elme ...

, Jose Strucco, Luis Flores,

Felipe Mendez Felipe Mendez (born ''circa'' 1897 in San Juan, Argentina) was an Argentine man who participated as a paleontological collector at the '' 2nd Captain Marshall Field Paleontological Expedition'' in 1926. The international team included Elmer S. R ...

, and Colin Campbell. The expedition started in April 1926 and finished in November 1927. Riggs was again looking for

fossil mammals and ended up working in

, and

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, in

and the Tarija Valley in

. He and his team discovered over 500 fossil vertebrates including seven new species such as the saber-toothed marsupial, Thylacosmilus atrox and flightless terror bird, Andalgalornis ferox.

Archaeological explorations in Peru and British Honduras

Archaeological explorations were conducted in Peru and British Honduras. These focussed on ancient pottery from Trujillo, textiles of the early

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...

period and an osteological study of Nasca trophy heads collected by A.L. Kroeber.

The Marshall Field North Arabian Desert Expeditions

The Marshall Field North Arabian Desert Expeditions of 1927-1928 secured twelve specimens of lizards and snakes in Transjordania and Iraq. This material, which proves to be an accession of unusual interest, was collected in 1928 by Mr. Henry Field, Assistant Curator of Physical Anthropology in Field Museum of Natural History.

The Marshall Field Botanical Expedition to the Amazon

The Peruvian division of this expedition, led by Field Museum staff member Llewelyn Williams, returned in May 1930 with 8,000 botanical specimens. The Brazilian division, led by Field Museum Acting Curator D. B. E. Dahlgren, returned several months earlier.

Literature

* John Todd Zimmer: ''Birds of the Marshall Field Peruvian Expedition, 1922-1923.'' Chicago, 1930. * Wilfred Hudson Osgood: ''The long-clawed South American rodents of the genus Notiomys.'' Chicago, 1925. * Carl Eduard Hellmayr: ''New birds from Chile, by C. E. Hellmayr. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1924. * Karl Patterson Schmidt and F. J. W. Schmidt: ''New coral snakes from Peru. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1925. * Karl Patterson Schmidt: ''Notes on Central American crocodiles. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1924. * Karl Patterson Schmidt: ''Notes on South American caimans. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1928. * Wilfred Hudson Osgood: ''Review of living caenolestids with description of a new genus from Chile. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1924. * Alfred Cleveland Weed: ''A review of the fishes of the genus Signalosa. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1925. * J. Francis Macbride: ''Spermatophytes, mostly Peruvian...'' Chicago, 1929. * John Todd Zimmer: ''Two new birds from Peru. Reports on results of the Captain Marshall Field expeditions.'' Chicago, 1925. * J. Francis Macbride and

Robert Statham Williams Robert Statham Williams (May 6, 1859 – March 14, 1945) was an American bryologist who specialized in the mosses of the Yukon and South America. Early life Williams was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 6, 1859. Since childhood, he had alw ...

: ''Various spermatophytes.''. Chicago, 1927. *

Bryan Patterson Bryan Patterson (born 10 March 1909 in London; died 1 December 1979 in Chicago) was an American paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Life and career Bryan Patterson was the son of the soldier, engineer and author ...

: ''An adianthine litoptern from the Deseado formation of Patagonia. Results of the Marshall Field paleontological expeditions to Argentina and Bolivia, 1922-27.'' Field Museum of Natural History, 1940. * Bryan Patterson: ''Cranial characters of Homalodotherium.'' Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1934. * Bryan Patterson: The internal structure of the ear in some notoungulates. Results of the first Marshall Field paleontological expedition to Argentina and Bolivia, 1922-24. Chicago, 1936 * Bryan Patterson: A new phororhacoid bird from the Deseado formation of Patagonia. Results of the Marshall Field paleontological expeditions to Argentina and Bolivia, 1922-27. Chicago :Field Museum of Natural History, 1941. * Bryan Patterson: Some notoungulate braincasts. Results of the Marshall Field paleontological expeditions to Argentina and Bolivia, 1922-27. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1937 * Bryan Patterson: Trachytherus, a Typotherid from the Deseado beds of Patagonia. Results of the first Marshall Field paleontological expedition to Argentina and Bolivia, 1922-24. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1934 * Bryan Patterson: Upper premolar-molar structure in the notoungulata with notes on taxonomy. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1934.

References

{{Reflist Explorers of South America Archaeological expeditions