30 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 196 2 



In April Dr. Eichard S. Boardman, curator of invertebrate paleon- 

 tology and paleobotany, spent several weeks collecting bryozoans from 

 the Simpson group of lower Middle Ordovician age in the Arbuckle 

 Mountains of Oklahoma. The fauna of this region is largely un- 

 studied and has the advantage of starting with the earliest known 

 bryozoans in this country and continuing through a long period of 

 time. This sequence should reveal evolutionary details and the origins 

 of several genera. The faunas are abundantly represented through- 

 out and will support many detailed population studies. 



Dr. Porter M. Kier, associate curator of invertebrate paleontology 

 and paleobotany, accompanied by Dr. Druid Wilson, of the U.S. 

 Geological Survey, over a period of several weeks in Florida in ISTovem- 

 ber and December, collected fossils from formations of probable Mio- 

 cene and Pliocene age. The collecting was spectacular, providing a 

 much larger fauna than anticipated. Over 2,000 specimens were 

 found, representing approximately 25 species, most of which are new. 

 The results of the study of these specimens should be most helpful in 

 determining the age of the formations. Subsequently, Dr. Kier col- 

 lected and studied living sea-urchins and sea-biscuits in the vicinity 

 of Miami. Using aqualung equipment, he spent many hours on the 

 sea floor observing the behavior of nine species of echinoids, anticipat- 

 ing that these studies will permit a better understanding of the ecology 

 of the fossil forms that are his particular interest. 



In February Dr. Kier and Dr. Erie G. Kauffman, associate curator 

 of invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany, spent several weeks in 

 Saudi Arabia collecting fossils under the sponsorship of the Arabian 

 American Oil Co. With the aid of officials of this company, they 

 made extensive collections in central Saudi Arabia, where three camps 

 especially erected for the expedition gave access to fossiliferous Lower 

 Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, and Jurassic areas. The operations 

 were extremely successful, and the Smithsonian party obtained over 

 a ton of well-preserved Mesozoic fossils, including approximately 

 8,000 brachiopods, 30,000 mollusks, 1,500 echinoids, and numerous 

 corals and sponges, many of them new to science. The material col- 

 lected from carefully measured stratigraphic sections will be invalu- 

 able to Middle East biostratigraphic work and an excellent source for 

 evolutionary studies. 



In June Dr. Kier, in company with Dr. Druid Wilson, worked for a 

 few days in the Miocene formation near Cape Fear, N.C. The scien- 

 tists were fortunate in collecting sufficient echinoids and mollusks to 

 enable them to date these beds and in turn to date the Caloosahatcliee 

 formation. 



In the summer of 1961 Dr. Kauffman conducted field work in Mon- 

 tana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. He collected 



