Evening star., 1949-05-01
Fossil Juwbone Gives New MISSING Link
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ton. with which ! have been af-
fillated for the last six months.

historic ape-men In 1885 after
working on the origin OF mann
mails from reptiles since left my
native Scotland for South Africa
just before the turn Of the CEN
tury. In my search. I was fortu-
nate-for I found my first early
man only a few days after I be-
gan the hunt. ! chose the area
near johannesburg because 1t is
the only known region where such
creatures have been preserved in
large quantity. although other
sites probably will be found.
This excellent preservation is
due to the proper climate and the
indigenous limestone In which
many creatures are found. 1t also
results in large part from the fact
that these creatures were killed
by carnivorous animals which
dragged the remains into caves
to be devoured. The clue to the
presence of fossil man was found
In 1924 when the first was dis
covered. That find opened the
gates.
The recent find is the largest
human or near-human jawbone
ever found. being a massive per-
feet lower jaw. with practically all
the teeth. of the Swartkrans ape
man who lived between 1000, 900
to 2,000, 900 years ago.
Like the others In the series, 1t
reveals q being on the threshold
of the human race. It Is truly
AN ape-n1an or man-ape. The
front Of the jaw is almost straight,
and it does not slope away as
does that Of apes. 1t also is re-
markable in having the rudiment
Of a chin. Since some hold that
the human chin developed with
speech. this prehistoric man may
have had some kind of speech.
Moreover, it seems probable that
the brain size was quite up to the
human thought range, measuring
perhaps 1000 cubic centimeters.
This was the size of the brain of
Anatole France and that Of the
mathematician and philosopher
1ibeniz. II this is 50, we can
hardly hesitate to call Swartkrans
ape-r1an tParanthropus Crassi-
den0 a man or near-man and.
II so, it would seem that the prob
lem of the origin of man has been
solved.
Generally. brain size is esti-
mated by filling the cranial
cavity with shot or millet seed
which is then poured out and
measured in cubic centimeters.
The inside Of the skull is prac-
tically a wrapping around the
brain. The absence Of mem
branes make a difference, but
OF only few &C. Another
method. which may have been
used in the case of Anatole
France and Liebniz, is to ex-
tract the brain in an autopsy
and measure 1t by fluid dis
placement ana computation Of
specific gravity. Since no skull
of the Swartkrans apeman has
been found. its brain size was
estimated from the size Of the
jaw compared to the Jaws Of
other creatures in the South
African ape-man gro0p or
whhh I1ear-complete skulls
have y been discovered and +,
whose brain sizes have been
computed.)"
This latest find is perhaps the
most important human or near
human jaw ever discovered. It
caps the series of initial finds I
made on the Swartkrans farm
from last November through mid
February. These included a male
jaw with large teeth. which were
practically human in structure;
part of the jaw of a female, two
teeth, and the radius of an arm.
This last was delicate enough to
indicate that this prehistoric man
walked on his hind legs. (The
distinction between the male and
female Jaw In the South African
apeman group is drawn from size
and robustness.)
Saber- Toothed Tiger Chief Enemy.
I am firmly convinced from
diligent study Of these specimens
that the Swartkrans ape-man,
like the four other ape-men dis
covered In South Africa. walked
erect and looked human enough
to pass as man.
Although no tools have been
found which they might have
used, 7 believe that they had
some blunt instrument to kill ba-
boons, while they themselves lived
in constant dread Of being de-
voured by larger and stronger
creatures. Their chief enemy was
the saber-toothed tiger, q now
extinct mammal about the size
and disposition Of . lion.
Some scientists believe that the
large size Of the jaws and teeth
of the Swartkrans ape-man indi-
cate that he was giant. The
new find tends to confirm this
Besides being the largest complete
ape-man jaw ever found. 1t is far
bigger than any known human
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