168 Fir.

11 Soulh Afl

200 feet-at '

main line to ]
Lime Compan
The discovery in 1924 of a fossilized primate skull which was assigned recently from
the taxonomic name of Australopithecus africanus ("southern ape of Afri­ Sou th Africa I
ca") offered something really new in the way of fossils. Since 1925 a num­ feeling was enl
Rhodesia, migi
ber of new finds of the Australopithecus genus, as well as others, have been
made. It is impossible to summarize here either the I'ariety of types or the I immediate
University of ,
l'arious views which authorities have held or now hold about them. Thus, the
significance of these finds to the evolution of primate stock, to man's rela­ coincidence, >\
tionship with the Australopithecinae, to their geological dating, or to the vestigate geolo
possibility that they were tool-makers and tool-users, is far from determined. visi t to Taung
It is enough to say that a whole new vista of human evolution was opened A. F. Campbe
by the discovery of the Australopithecus skull. It has led to directed search inspect the sitl
for additional evidence both in South and East Africa, and each year sees material for n
new finds made. For a general survey of the significance of the Australopi­ cercopi thecid ~
thecinaefor human evolution the reader is referred to Clark (1967). fragments disc
senior lecturer
Henelry, of anc
skull, the POSs(
also been libel
investigation.
The cercopit
more than one:
in this area is r
has in the pres
this same spot. ]
primate deposit
(Hans Reck, Sit
THE FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN on the shores 01
1916), and in I
MANLIKE APE expectation tha
in Africa will y'
R. A. Dart In manipulat
found that the
Towards the close of 192,1, Miss Josephine Salmons, student demonstra­ fractured front;
tor of anatomy in the University of the \Vitwatersrand, brought to me broken mandibl
the fossilized skull of a ccrcopithecid monkey which, through her in­ the hinder and
strumentality, was very generously loaned to the Depanment Jar de­ development of
scription by its owner, 1\11'. E. G. lzod, of the Rand :\lines Limited. I revealed the aIm
learned that this valuable fossil had been blasted Oll t of the limestone It was appan
clift formation-at a vertical depth of 50 feet and a horizontal depth of that it was spec
"AUS{ll1!opithecus africanus: The Man-Ape of South Africa," by Raymond A. Dart.
sufficient simil:ll
\'01. CXV (February 7, 1925), (London: J\lacmillan and Co., Ltd.), pp. 19:3-199.
,\'IIIIIiC, strate that one
Reprinted by permission of Professor Raymond A. Dart and the editor of Nature. cercopithecid aI
 Firs! Soulh African Manlike Ape J69

200 feet-at Taungs, which lies 80 miles north of Kimberley on the

main line to Rhodesia, in Bechuanaland, by operatives of the Northern
Lime Company. Important stratigraphical evidence has been forthcoming
recently [rom this district concerning the succession of stone ages in
:h was assigned
South Africa (Neville Jones, Jour. Roy. Anthrop. Inst., 1920), and the
ern ape oj Ajri­
feeling was entertained that this lime deposit, like that of Broken Hill in
'e 1925 a num­
Rhodesia, might contain fossil remains of primitive man.
'hers, have been
I immediately consulted Dr. R. B. Young, professor of geology in the
oj types or the
University o[ \Vitwatersrand, about the discovery, amI he, by a fortunate
them. Thus, the
coincidence, was called down to Taungs almost synchronously to in­
to man's re/a­
vestigate g'eologically the lime deposits of an adjacent farm. During his
lling, or to the
visit to Taungs, Prof. Young was enabled, through the courtesy of Mr.
om determined.
A. F. Campbell, general manager of the Northern Lime Company, to
'ion was opened
inspect the site of the discovery and to select further samples of fossil
directed search
material for me from the same formation. These included a natural
each year sees
cercopithecid endocranial cast, a second and larger cast, and some rock
the Australopi­
fragments disclosing portions of bone. Finally, Dr. GonIon D. Laing,
(/967).
senior lecturer in anatomy, obtainecl news, through his friend Mr. Ridley
Hendry. of another primate skull from the same cliff. This cercopithecid
skull. the possession of 1\1r. De 'Vet, of the Langlaagte Deej Mine, has
also been liberally entrusted by him to the Department for scientific
investigation.
The cercopithecid remains placed at our disposal certainly represent
more than one species of catarrhine ape. The discovery of Cercopithecidae
in this area is not novel, for I have been informed that Mr. S. Haughton
has in the press a paper discussing at least one species of baboon from
this same spot. It is o[ importance that, outside 01 the famous Fayum area,
primate deposits have been found on the African mainland at Oldm\'ay
(Hans Reck, Sitwngsuericht der Gesellsch. Naturforsch. Freunde, 1914),
,FRICAN on the shores of Victoria Nyanza (c. \V. Andrews, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.,
1916), and in Bechuanaland, for these discoveries lend promise to the
IKE APE expectation that a tolerably complete story o[ higher primate evolution
in Africa will yet be wrested from our rocks.
R. A. Dart In mauipulating the pieces of rock brought back by Prof. Young, I
found that the larger natural endocranial cast articulated exactly by its
ent demonstra­ fractured frontal extremity with another piece of rock in which the
brough t to me broken mandible 'was visible. After cleaning the rock mass, the outline of
lrough her in­ the hinder and lower part of the facial skeleton came into view. Careful
tment for de­ development of the solid limestone in which it was embedded finally
nes Limited. I revealed the almmt entire face . . .
the limestone It was apparent when the larger endocranial cast was first observed
ontal depth of that it was specially important, for its size and sulcal pattern revealed
sufficient siIllibrity with those of the chimpanzee and gorilla to demon­
aymollu A. Dart.
~td.),pp. 19:)·199. strate that aIle was handling in this instance an anthropoid and not a
:uitor of Nalure. cercopithecid ape. Fossil anthropoids have not hitherto been recorded
170 MAN'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST Firsl SOli I II A/i',

"outh of the Fayum in Egypt, and living anthropoids have not been dis­ dex of 100, whi
covered in recent times south of Lake Kivu region in the Belgian Congo, ,.An thropology
nearly 2000 miles to the north, as the crow flies. all betray a elt
All fossil anthropoids found hitherto have heen known only from is relatively sli
mandibular or maxillary fragments, so far as crania are concerned, and which is scarc{
so the general appearance of the types they represented has been un­ examined by ~
known; consequently, a condition of affairs where virtually the \dlOle face level of the 10"­
;md lower jaw, replete with teeth, together with the major portion of the as in man, and
brain pattern, have been preserved, constitutes a specimen of unusual maximum len!
value in fossil anthropoid discovery. Here, as in Homo rhodesiensis, Eoanthropus d
Southern Africa has provided documents of higher primate evolution that chimpanzee, in
are amongst the most complete extant. sian has occurr
Apart from this evidential completeness, the specimen is of importance forwards. The
because it exhibits an extinct race of apes intermediate between living (l7 mm. x 16 n
anthroj)oids and man. being continuo
In the first place, the whole cranium displays humanoid rather than the maxillae, 3
anthropoid lineaments. It is markedly dolichocephalic and leptoprosopic, Caledonians an
and manifests in a striking degree the harmonious relation of calvaria to In the secone
face emphasized by Pruner-Bey. As Topillard says, "A cranium elongated The specimen
hom before backwards, and at the same time elevated, is already in erupted in botl
harmony by itself; but if the face, on the other hand, is elongated from tomically with
above downwards, and narrows, the harmony is complete." I have milk dentition
assessed roughly the difference in the relationship 01 the glabella-gnathion the deciduous
facial length to the glabella-inion calvarial length in recent African "The Origin a1
anthropoicis of an age comparable with that of this specimen (depicted in data for the 1
Duckworth's "Anthropology and Morphology," second edition, vol. i.),
and fine! that, if the glabella-inion length be regarded in all three as 100,
,
I
features of the 1

l
of the canine
then the glabella-gnathion length in the young chimpanzee is approxi­ margin of the
mately 88, in the young gorilla 80, and in this fossil 70, which proportion human milk ca
suitably demonstrates the enhanced relationship of cerehral length to and canines OJ
facial length in the fossil. deciduous den
The glabella is tolerably pronounced, but any traces of the salient
supra-orbital ridges, which are present even in immature living anthro­
•I come, as in th
Zoe. cit.). Then
poids, are here en tirely absen t. Th us the relati vel y increased glabella­
inion measurement is due to brain and not to bone. Allowing 4 mm. for I• left side) betwi
seeing, first, th
the bone thickness in the inion region, that measurement in the fossil (1 mm.-1.5 11m
is 127 mrn.; i.e., 4 mm. less than the same measurement in an ae!ult
chimpanzee in the Anatomv Nfuseulll at the University of the vVitwaters­ I between the 1
J
iaw, and, thir
rand. The orbits are not in' any sense detached from the forehead, which even in mank
rises steadily fmTll their margins in a fashion amalingly human. The
interorbit;d \\'iclt h is very small (13 mm.) an(l the etlJmoids are not blown
r the establishrr
diastemata wh
out latera II y as in lllod em ,\ l'rican an throj)oids. This lack of et hmoillal nevertheless, s]
expansion causes tIle Iacri11l;i/ Jnss;lc to facc posteriorly and to lie relatively upper lateral i
far back in the orlJits, ;\S in man. The orbits, inslcld of being sub­ The incisor
(luadrate as in anthropoids, arc almosl circular, furnishing an orbital in- another, and a
 OF HIS PAST FirSI SOlllh Aji-ic{/1/ Manlike Ape 171
\
'e not been dis­
Belgian Congo, ~ dex of 100, which is well within the range of human variation (Topinard,
"Anthropology"). The malars, zygomatic arches, maxillae, and mandible
all betray a delicate and humanoid character. The facial prognathism
lwn only froIll
concerned, and
.1 is relatively slight, the gnathic index of Flower giving a value of 109,
which is scarcely greater than that of certain Bushmen (Strand loopers)
I has been un­ examined by Shrubsall. The nasal bones are not prolonged below the
. the whole face I
. portion of the • level of the lower orbital margins, as in anthropoids, but end above these,
as in man, and are incompletely fused together in their lower half. Their
len of unusual maximum length (17 mm.) is not so great as that of the nasals in
a rhodesiensis,
'evolution that
.1 Eoanthropus dawsoni. They are depressed in the median line, as in the
chimpanzee, in their lower half, but it seems probable that this depres­
\ sion has occurred post-mortem, for the upper half of each bone is arched
; of importance
~ forwards. The nasal aperture is small and is just wider than it is high
between living (17 mm. x 16 mm.). There is no nasal spine, the floor of the nasal cavity
I being continuous with the anterior aspects of the alveolar portions of
id rather than the maxillae, after the fashion of the chimpanzee and of certain New
leptoprosopic,
I of calvaria to
liurn elongated
I Caledonians and negroes.
In the second place, the dentition is humanoid rather than anthropoid.
The specimen is juvenile, for the first permanent molar tooth only has
is already in erupted in both jaws on both sides of the face; i.e., it corresponds ana­
~Iongated from
tomically with a human child of six years of age. Ohservations upon the
)Iete." I have milk dentition of living primates are few, and only one molar tooth of
.bella-gna thion the deciduous dentition in one fossil anthropoid is known (Gregory,
recent African "The Origin and Evolution of the Human Dentition," 1920). Hence the
~n (depicted in
lition, vol. i.), j data for the necessary comparisons are meager, but certain striking
features of the milk denti tion of this creature may be men tioned. The tips
II three as 100, of the canine teeth transgress very slightly (0.5-0.75 mm.) the general
:ee is approxi­
ich proportion
)ral length to
I margin of the teeth in each jaw, i.e., very little more than does the
human milk canine. There is no diastema whatever between the premolars
and canines on either side of the lower jaw, such as is present in the
of the salien t j deciduous dentition of living anthropoids; bu t the canines in this jaw
come, as in the human jaw, into alignment with the incisors (Gregory,
living anthro­ lac. cit.). There is a diastema (2 mm. on the right side, and 3 mm. on the
~ased glabella­
ing 4 mm. for I
•
left side) between the canines ami lateral incisors of the upper jaw; but
seeing, first, that the incisors are narrow, and, secondly, that diastemata
t in the fossil (1 mm.-1.5 mm.) occur between the central incisors of the upper jaw and
t in an adult
he \Vitwaters­ I between the medial and lateral incisors of both sides in the lmver
jaw, and, thirdly, that some separation of the milk teeth takes place
rehead, which even in mankind (Tomes, "Dental Anatomy," seventh edition) during
human. The
are not blown 1 the establishment of the permanent dentition, it is evident that the

I
diastemata which occur in the upper jaw are small. The lower canines.
of ethmoidal nevertheless, show wearing facets, both for the upper canines and for the
o lie relatively upper lateral incisors.
of beino·...., sub­ The incisors as a group are irregular in size, tend to overlap one
an orbital ill­ another, and are almost vertical, as in man; they are not symmetrical and

j
 172 MAN'S DISCOVERY Of HIS PAST Finl SOIIII

well spaced, and do not project forwards markedly, as in anthropoids. The of great si,
upper lateral incisors do project forwards to some extent and perhaps also this group
do the upper central incisors very slightly, but the lateral lower incisors being free
betray no evidence of forward projection, and the central lower incisors locomotiOl
are not even vertical as in most races of mankind, but are directed slightly tionary ro
backwards, as sometimes occurs in man. Owing to these remarkably human adding COl
characters displayed by the deciduous dentition, when contour tracings but also as
of the upper jaw are made, it is found that the jaw and the teeth, as a elaborate,
whole, take up a parabolic arrangement comparable only with that pre­ and defenc
sented by mankind amongst the higher primates. These facts, together their failUl
with the more minute anatomy of the teeth, will be illustrated and dis­ ondly, of tl
cussed in the memoir which is in the process of elaboration concerning do use stick
the fossil remains. of Man," p
In the third place, the mandible itself is humanoid rather than anthro­ Lastly, tt
poid. Its ramus is, on the whole, short and slender as compared with responsible
that of anthropoids, but the bone itself is more massive than that of a cerebral anI
human being of the same age. Its symphyseal region is virtually com­ median lint
plete and reveals anteriorly a more vertical outline than is found in tion of the
anthropoids or even in the jaw of Piltdown man. The anterior symphy­ seems to ha
seal surface is scarcely less vertical than that of Heidelberg man. The picturesque
posterior symphyseal surface in living anthropoids differs from that of cavity was
modern man in possessing a pronounced posterior prolongation of the eluring bIas:
lower border, which joins together the two halves of the mandible, and cia ted by til
so forms the well-known simian shelf and above it a deep genial im­ less than 11
pression for the attachment of the tongue musculature. In this character, zee in the !I
Eoanthropus dawsoni scarcely differs from the anthropoids, especially the \V i tw atersr,
chimpanzee; but this new fossil betrays no evidence of such a shelf, the cast of the I
lower border of the mandible having been massive and rounded after great size.
the fashion of the mandible of Homo heidelbergensis. matter whic
That hominid characters were not restricted to the face in this extinct of eruption
primate group is borne out by the relatively forward situation of the adult. So fa
foramen magnum. The positiOIl of the basion can be assessed within a few iii) tells us 1
millimeters of error, because a portion of the right exoccipital is present ten years, b
alongside the cast of the basal aspect of the cerebellum. Its position is twenty and
such that the basi-prosthion measurement is 89 mm., while the basi-inion in weight 0
measurement is at least 54 mm. This relationship may be expressed in they had re
the form of a "head-balancing" index of 60.7. The same index in a lieve that t
baboon provides a value of 41.3, in an adult chimpanzee 50.7, in Rho­ brains whic
desian man 8~1.7, in a dolichocephalic European 90.9, and in a brachy­ if they did r
cephalic European 105.8. It is significant that this index, which indicates vVhatevCl
in a measure the poise of the skull upon the vertebral column, points to are llot lad
the assumption by this fossil group of an attitude appreciably more erect dis tincti ve
than that of modern anthropoids. The improved poise of the head, and that of Iivi
the better posture of the whole body framework which accompanied this unfortunaH
alteration in the angle at which its dominant member was supported, is of cerebral
\ST First South African Manlike Ape 173

of great significance. It means that a greater reliance was being placed by

[he J this group upon the feet as organs of progression, and that the hands were
lIsa
50rs
sal's .I, being freed from their more primitive function of accessory organs of
locomotion. Bipedal animals, their hands were assuming a higher evolu­
tionary role not only as delicate tactual, examining organs which were
htly
nan
ings
I• adding copiously to the animal's knowledge of its physical environment,
but also as instruments of the growing intelligence in carrying out more
as a elaborate, purposeful, and skilled movements, and as organs of offence
pre­ and defence. The latter is rendered the more probable, in view, first, of
ther their failure to develop massive canines and hideous features, and sec­
dis- ondly, of the fact that even living baboons and anthropoid apes can and
ling do use sticks and stones as implements and as weapons of offence ("Descent
of Man," p. 81 et seq.).
hro­ Lastly, there remains a consideration of the endocranial cast which was
with responsible for the discovery of the face. The cast comprises the right
of a cerebral and cerebrellar hemispheres (both of which fortunately meet the
:om­ median line throughout their entire dorsal length) and the anterior por­
i In tion of the left cerebral hemisphere. The remainder of the cranial cavity
phy- seems to have been empty, for the left face of the cast is clothed with a
The picturesque lime crystal deposit; the vacuity in the left half or the cranial
It of cavity was probably responsible for the fragmentation of the specimen
the during blasting. The cranial capacity of the specimen may best be appre­
and ciated by the statement that the length of the cavity could not have been
Im­ less than 114 mm., which is 3 mm. greater than that of an adult chimpan­
.cter, zee in the Museum of the Anatomy Department in the University of the
( the \t\Titwatersrand, and only 14 mm. less than the greatest length of the
, the cast of the endocranium of a gorilla chosen for casting on account of ib
after great size. Few data are available concerning the expansion of brain
matter which takes place in the living anthropoid brain between the time
tinct of eruption of the first permanent molars and the time of their becoming
: the adult. So far as man is concerned, Owen ("Anatomy of Vertebrates," vol.
1 few iii) tells us that "The brain has advanced to near its term of site at about
esent ten years, but it does not usually obtain its full developmcnt till betl,\'een
In IS twen ty and thirty years of age." R. Boyd (1960) discovered an increase
man in weight of nearly 250 grams in the brains of male human beings after
~d in they had reached the age of seven years. It is therefore reasonable to be­
In a lieve that the adult forms typified by our present specimen possessed
Rho- brains which were larger than that of this juvenile specimen, and equalled,
achy­ if they did not actually supersede, that of the gorilla in absolute size.
icates \Vhatever the total dimensions of the adult brain ma:- h:nc been, there
Its to are not Jacking evidences that the brain in this group of fossil forms was
erect distinctive in ty pe and was all instrumen t of grea l cr in tell i!~cnce t !l;m
, and that of living anthropoids. The face of the endocranial cast is scarred
i this unfortunately in several places. It is evident that the relative propurtion
ed, is of cerebral to cerebellar matter in this brain was greater than in the
174 1\1 A N'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST Firs! SOlil

gorilla's. The brain does not show that general pre- amI post-Rolandic reason, WI
Battening characteristic of the living anthropoids, but presents a rounded a primiti
and well-filled-out contour, which points to a symmetrical and balanced Egyptian
development of the faculties of associative memory and intelligent been retri
activi ty. The pi thecoicl type of para lie I sulcus is preserved, but the sulcus India, but
lunatus has been thrust backwards towards the occipital pole by a anthropoi;
pronounced general hulging of the parieto-temporo-occipital association from the S
areas. according
To emphasize this matter, J have reproduced superimposed coronal and even tl
contour tracings taken at the widest part of the parietal region in the \Vhethel
gorilla endocranial cast and in this fossil. Nothing could iilustratc better in India is
the mental gap that exists between liviug anthropoid apes and the group com parisor
of creatures which the fossil represenb than the flattened atrophic ap­ obvious, m
pearance of the parietal region 01 the brain (which lies het ween the beyond Iiv,
visual field on one hand, and the tactile and auditory fields on the other) of facial an
in the former and ils surgent vertical and dorsa-lateral expansion in the brain on t]
latter. The expansion in this area of the brain is significant in that it ape-like rna
explains the posterior humanoid situation of the sulcus lunatus. It in­ well advan(
dicates (to~ethcr with the narrow interorbital interval and human char­ and cerebra
acters of the orbit) the fact that this group of beings, having acquired and his sin
the faculty of stereoscopic vision, had profited heyond living anthropoids creature W
1J.y setting aside a relatively much larger area of the cerebral cortex to localized te
serve as a storehouse of information concerning their objective em,iron­ necessary t(
ment as its details were simult,lIleously revealed to the sellSes of vision and garcled as a
touch, am! also o[ hearing. They possessed to a deg-ree unappreciated by HOJno,simi,
living anthropoids the use of their hands and ears and the consequent which it n
faculty of associating with the color, form, and general appearance of designated
objccts, their weight, texture, resilience, and flexibility, as well as the ex trelne SOl
significance of sounds emitted by them. In other words, their eyes saw, of the cont
their ears heard, and their llands haJ1l11ed objects with greater nH:~aning nected wit]
and to fuller purpose than the corresponding organs in recent apes. They vindicating
had laid down the foundations of that tliscriminati,'e knnwledge of the cradle of m
appearance, feeling, and sound of things that was a necessary milestone It will aI
in the aCljuisition of articulate speech. human stG
There is, therefore, an ulLrasimian quality of the brain depicted in southern p
this immature endocranial cast which harmonizes with the ultrasimian not associat
features revealed by the entire cranial topography and corroborates the fringe of tll
various inferences drawn therefrom. The two thousand miles of territory life. It is i
which separate this creature from its nearest living anthropoid cOllsins Cretaceous
is indirect testimony to its increased intelligence and mastery of its en­ vol. xix, 19
\'ironment. It is manifest that we are in the presence here of a prehuman limits in th
stock, neither chimpanzee nor gorilla, which possesses a series of dif­ that it was
ferential characters not encountereu hitherto in any anthropoiu stock. which mad,
This complex of characters exhibited is such that it cannot be interpreted In antici
as belonging to a form ancestral to any living anthropoid. For this man in tro
HIS PAST FirSI SOl/Iii A/ri('(/Il Mill/like A/)(' 175

,t-Rolandic reason, we may be equally confident that there can be no question here of
a rounded a primitive anthropoid stock such as has been recovcred from the
J balanced Egyptian Fayiim. Fossil anthropoids. varietics of Dryopithccus, have
intelligent been retricved in many parts of Europe. l\' orthcrn Africa. and Northern
the sulcus India, but the prcscnt specimen, despite its youth, cannot be confused with
pole by a anthropoids having the dryopithecid dentition. Othcr fossil anthropoids
association from the Siwalik hills in India (Miocene and Pliocene) are known which,
according to certain observers, may be ancestral to modern anthropoids
ed coronal and even to man.
ion in the \Vhether our present fossil is to be correlated with the discoveries made
rate better in India is not yet apparent; that question can only be solved by a careful
the group comparison of the permanent molar teeth from both localities. It is
rophic ap­ obvious, meanwhile, that it represents a fossil group distinctly advanced
~tween the beyond living anthropoids in those nvo dominantly human characters
the other) of facial and dental recession on one hand, and improved quality of the
,ion in the brain on the other. Unlike Pithecanthropus, it does not represent an
in that it ape-like man, a caricature of precocious hominid failure, but a creature
ItuS. It i n­ well advanced beyond modern anthropoids in just those characters, facial
Iman char­ and cerebral, which are to be anticipateu in an extinct link between man
g acquired and his simian ancestor. At the same tinle, it is equally evident that a
nthropoids creature with anthropoid brain capacity and lacking the distinctive,
I cortex to localized temporal expansions which appear to be concumitant with and
,e enVlron­ necessary tu articulate man, is no true man. It is therefure logically re­
vision and ganled as a man-like ape. I proposc tentatively, then, that a new family of
reciated by HO!no-simiac!ae be created for the reception of the group of individuals
consequent which it represents, ami that the first known species of the group be
learance of designated AlIsfm!ojJilhecvs african liS, in commemoration, first, of the
veil as the extreme southern and unexpected horizon of its discovery, and, secondly,
r eyes saw, of the continellt in which so many new and important discoveries con­
~r meanmg nected wi th the early history of man have recently been made, thus
apes. They vindicating the Darwinian claim that Africa would prove to be the
~dge of the cradle of mankind.
( milestone It will appear to many a remarkable fact that an ultrasimian and pre­
human stock should be discovered, in the Erst place, at this extreme
lepicted in southern point in Africa, and, secondly, in Bechuanaland, for one does
ultrasimian not associate with the present climatic conditions obtaining on the eastern
borates the fringe of the Kalahari desert an environmen t fa \'ora ble to higher primate
of terri tory life. It is generally believed by geologists (vide A. \V. Rogers, "Post­
Did cousins Cretaceous Climates of South Africa," South .1/ric([11 Journal of Science,
y of its en- vol. xix, 1922) that the climate has lluctuated within exceedingly narrow
prehuman limi ts in this country since Cretaceous times. \\'e must therefore conclude
ries of dif­ that it was only the enhanced cerebral powers possesseu by this group
poid stock. which made their existence possible in this unt()"ward enviromnent.
interpreted In anticipating the discovery of the true links between the apes and
1. For this man in tropical countries, there has been a tenuency to overlook the fact
176 MAN'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST

that, in the luxuriant forests of the tropical belts, Nature was supplying
with profligate and lavish hand an easy and sluggish solution, by adaptive
specialization, of the problem of existence in creatures so well equipped T,
mentally as living anthropoids are. For the production of man a different archae
apprenticeship was needed to sharpen the wits and quicken the higher an em
manifestations of intellect-a more open veldt country where competition ge%g,
was keener between swiftness and stealth, and where adroi tness of think­ tion,
ing and movement played a preponderating role in the preservation of e/epha,
the species. Darwin has said, "no country in the world abounds in a this re
greater degree with dangerous beasts than Southern Africa," and, in my Whitn,
opinion, Southern Africa, by providing a vast open country with occa­ ample
sional wooded belts and a relative scarcity of water, together with a Hrd/([,
fierce and bitter mammalian competition, furnished a laboratory such as found
was essential to this penultimate phase of human evolution. mine (,
In Southern Africa, where climatic conditions appear to have fluctuated was ta,
little since Cretaceous times, and where ample dolomitic formations have from t)
provided innumerable refuges during life, and burial-places after death, thus j
for our troglodytic forefathers, we may confidently anticipate many com­ dated
plementary discoveries concerning this period in our evolution. about
In conclusion, I desire to place on record my indebtedness to Miss While'
Salmons, Prof. Young, and Mr. Campbell, without whose aid the discovery of the
would not have been made; to Mr. Len Richardson for providing the in teres,
photographs; to Dr. Laing and my laboratory staff for their willing scien ti~
assistance; and particularly to Mr. H. Le Helloco, student demonstrator coveret
Char/e,
preliminary statement. ***
in the Anatomy Department, who has prepared the illustrations for this
bibliogJ
Heizer
(1905)

This
near A
it was
[Thorn
"Notic
County,'
Vol. III