Evening star., 1948-10-18
Stars, Men and Atoms al
Pre-Humon Pigmy Race
Found to Resemble Man
Bones Discovered in South Africa
Seen Significant in Evolution
By Thomas r. Henry

OSSH OlSn1ncanl IN EVOIutlOn.
By Thomas r. Henry
Discovery in South Africa of long-extinct
race Of prehuman' pigmies-probably ths
most significant anthropological discovery In
half century-has just been announced
through the American Association Of Physical
Anthropologists.
These creatures lived more than 100000
years ago. The average weight was about 100
pounds. They walked erect. They hunted
game with clubs. They had discovered the
use Of fre. Their bodies were delcately pro-
portioned and almost indistinguishable from
human.
On their small bodies they carried relatively
enormous ape-like heads. Their brains were
approximately the size of those of large
gorillas who approach nearest to man Of all
animals. They apparently were Intelligent
and energetic.
Yet they were not men. They were man
like apes-uke gorillas and chimpanzees. 1t Is
barely possible that they belonged to tho
direct evolutionary line from which the human
race arose. If this turns out to be the case,
it will force fundamental revSions in present
theories Of human descent from lower animals.
South African Announces Find.
The present indication Is that these animals
represented an entirely different offshoot from
the anthropoids which evolved in direction
parallel to that of mans ancestors but be-
came extinct.
The new find, announced by Prof Raymond
A. Dart of the University of Witwatersrand
in Johannesburg, has been given the scientific
name Of Australopithicus prometheus. Aus
tralopithecus is the name of group of fossil
man-like apes found in South Africa whose
bones show many human-like characteristics
and which are believed to be related remotely
to the pre-human pigmies The word pro-
metheus' has been added in compliment to the
Olympian god who taught man the use Of
fire.
For the past three years students and faculty
Of the WitwaterSrand University have been
exploring the dumps of an abandoned lime.
works at Makananagat in the Central Trans.
vaal. They were encouraged to search through
tons Of stone by finding bones of several fossil
balloons such as already had been found as
sociated with ape-men.
But these baboon fossils were different from
any encountered before. Their skulls usually
were smashed as If from well -aimed club
blows delivered from 'front.' side or rear More
over, some OF them showed signs of fire. The
ANAL reward Of their labors came, Prof. Dart
reports to the American Association Of Phys
ical Anthropologists, with the finding Of q
human-like occipital bone. part of the skull
from which it was possible to make q tentative
brain reconstruction.
Other Bones Discovered.
This was followed by the discovery Of other
bones from which it has been possible to build
up fairly accurate picture OF the pre-human
creature. Prof. Dart has written DR.. T. D.
Stewart, Smithsonian Institution Curator
Of Physical Anthropology, that a complete
lower jaw, with teeth intact, of a Juvenile
Australopithicus prometheus has just been
found. This has not yet been fitted into the
general picture.
The portions of skull bone found, DR.. Dart
believes, belonged to a female. They indicate
a brain capacity of about $50 cubic cent?
meters The largest gorilla brain yet known
was that of an infant brought to the National
Geological Park in Washington a few years
ago which died when about four years old.
The skull had a capacity of about 600 cubic
centimeters, indicating the largest brain ever
found outside a human The smallest non
pathological human brain known had q
capacity Of about 900 cubic centimeters. 1t is
highly improbable that the brain of the Wash
ington gorilla ever would have become much
larger although If he had lived. he might
have reached a total weight Of between 400
and 500 pounds.
Intelligence in the animal kingdom Is ap-
parently not correlated directly with brain
weight, per Sc, but with the ratio between
brain weight and body weight. Prof. Dart
calculates from other evidence that an adult
Australopithicus prometheus would have
weighed between 80 and 100 pounds. The
~ oaahl
have been slightly larger than that Of the
female.
More Intelligent Than Gorilla.
Hence this strange creature must have been
vastly more intelligent than the most intel
lgent gorilla.
1t would have compared quite favorably with
the grotesque pithecanthropus erectus of Java,
the ape-man Of about 100000 years ago.
which hitherto has generally been accepted
as the first known creature in the human
line, although not a human being in the
true sense Of the word.
There Is a possibility, 1t Is admitted, that
man may have originated in South Africa,
arising directly from the Australopthicus
prometheus stock, rather than evolving in
southern Asia from the generalized pithecan-
thropus stock.
This is difficult to reconcile, however, with
the known distribution of early man and DR..
Darts find is considered more likely q repre-
sentative of a group of superintendent small
apes who went a long way in parallel line
to human evolution.
full description of the strange creature
by Prof. Dart is published for the first time
in the current issue Of the Journal of Physical
Anthropology.