The Captain Marshall Field Expeditions were undertaken by the
Field Museum of Natural History in
Chicago,
Illinois. The two Captain Marshall Field paleontological expeditions had the goal of finding South American
Cenozoic mammals. The mammals of South America had evolved in near total isolation from the rest of the world from almost the beginning of the
Cenozoic 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:[1]
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
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 period and an osteological study of Nasca trophy heads collected by A.L. Kroeber.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.
Bryan Patterson: 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.