Evening star., 1950-06-02
Whole Story to Be Known
On Ape-Like Ancestry
Series Of Five Skulls Found
In South Africon Coves
By Thomos R. Henry

By Thomos R. Henry
The whole story OF the emergence OF
man from an ape-like ancestry over .
period Of at least q million years VIII b
known in the next two decades.
Already a series Of five skulls Of ape
men ranging from the extremely print.
tive 70 q type which may have been suf.
ficiently advanced TO build ores has been
recovered from South African caves and
there is likelihood Of many more finds
in the near future. according to q report
to the American Association OF Physical
AnthropologiSts by DR.. Robert Broom Of
the Transvaal Museum Of Pretoria.
The animal remains found with these
skulls. he insists, show that the ape-men
lived at different periods dating from
long before the last ice age.
Apparently an Ape-Boy.
The latest find. not previously reported.
Is the complete jaw-bone OF q child,
probably about six years Of age. which
represents one Of the latest stages Of this
development. It apparently was an ape
boy. Three Of the teeth are well pre-
served. making possible comparisons with
less advanced types.
In some respects the jaw Is quite primi-
tive and comparable with that OF the
Heidelberg man of Europe who lived ap-
proximately half million years ago. The
canine tooth which is fully developed,
however. Is relatively small.
The fossil animal bones found In con-
nection with the different skulls. DR..
Broom says, are such as to indicate that
the various pre-men lived In different
kinds OF worlds and he believes that
eventually the time covered will be sew
eral million years
There is sex in skulls.
A new chapter for the textbook of the
detective has just been added by the
American Association OF Physical An
thropologists It long has been recog-
ntzed that woman's skull Is lighter and
THINNER than mans. the Jaw is lighter
and there are much less pronounced
ridges over the eyes. This Is so much
the case that 1t Is possible for an expert
10 separate thousand skulls from a
given population into male and female
with at least rs per cent accuracy.
But race differences often are greater
than sex differences. The criteria used
are adequate only when all the skulls are
OF the same race-recovered, for exam
pie. from the same cemetery A detective
would be unable to make more than a
guess as to the sex of an isolated speci-
men. such as the skull Of murder victim
buried alone in field.
Measurements Listed.
The association has just published a
list OF % skull measurements, worked
out by DR.. j. A. Keen, professor of anat-
omy at the University of Capetown. All
these indicate sex differences, so long as
individuals come from the same group
Ihree. however, seem to cut across racial
lines and to be fairly diagnostic Of sex
anywhere-although probably not sum
ciently so to be accepted as evidence in
court.
The first criterion is that of the SUPRA
oroital ridges, the bony protuberances
over the eye sockets. They are nom exist
ent IN only IL per cent of women and In
AZ per cent of women. They are quite
marked IN "a per cent of men but In no
women. Between these two extremes Is a
doubtful zone.
Second is the occipital crest, a bony
ridge between the rear and middle seq
ments OF the skull. It Is nom existent in
q per cent Of women and pronounced In
none. Here again Is considerable doubt
full zone.
Third is the ridge over the auditory
meatus. or opening from the ear into the
oraln. A small ridge Of this sort is much
more frequent in women than men but a
pronounced ridge is five times more COM
mon in men.
Admittedly. the report states, these
criteria still leave large area of doubt,
put tney provide better basis for sex
III ieRA
De1ore. Regardless Of their value as evi-
dence. they could provide a reasonable
assurance in a detectives own mind.