Ohap. VI. Affinities and Genealogy. 155 



Catarhine monkeys in one way and the Platyrhines in another 

 way, but would have resembled in this respect the allied Lemu- 

 ridaj, which differ greatly from each other in the form of their 

 muzzles, 15 and to an extraordinary degree in their dentition. 



The Catarhine and Platyrhine monkeys agree in a multitude 

 of characters, as is shewn by their unquestionably belonging 

 to one and the same Order. The many characters which 

 they possess in common can hardly have been independently 

 acquired by so many distinct species; so that these characters 

 must have been inherited. But a naturalist would undoubtedly 

 have ranked as an ape or a monkey, an ancient form which 

 possessed many characters common to the Catarhine and 

 Platyrhine monkeys, other characters in an intermediate con- 

 dition, and some few, perhaps, distinct from those now found in 

 either group. And as man from a genealogical point of view 

 belongs to the Catarhine or Old World stock, we must conclude, 

 however much the conclusion may revolt our pride, that our 

 early progenitors would have been properly thus designated. 16 

 But we must not fall into the error of supposing that the early 

 progenitor of the whole Simian stock, including man, was iden- 

 tical with, or even closely resembled, any existing ape or monkey. 



On the Birthplace and Antiquity of Man. — We are naturally 

 led to enquire, where was the birthplace of man at that stage of 

 descent when our progenitors diverged from the Catarhine 

 stock ? The fact that they belonged to this stock clearly shews 

 that they inhabited the Old World ; but not Australia nor any 

 oceanic island, as we may infer from the laws of geographical 

 distribution. In each great region of the world the living 

 mammals are closely related to the extinct species of the same 

 region. It is therefore probable that Africa was formerly in- 

 habited by extinct apes closely allied to the gorilla and chim- 

 panzee ; and as these two species are now man's nearest allies, it 

 is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on 

 the African continent than elsewhere. But it is useless to 

 speculate on this subject; for two or three anthropomorphous 

 apes, one the Dryopithecus 17 of Lartet, nearly as large as a man, 



15 Messrs. Murie and Mivart on his ' Natiirliche S 'hopfungsge- 

 the Lemuroidea, 'Transact. Zoolog. schichte,' 18G8, in which he gives 

 Soc' vol. vii. 1869, p. 5. in detail his views on the genealogy 



16 Hackel has come to this same of man. 



conclusion. See ' Ueber die Ent- u Dr. G. Forsyth Major, * Sur les 



stehuug des Menschengeschlechts,' Singes Fossiles trouves en italie:' 



in Virchow's ' Sammlung. gemein. ' Soc. Ital. des Sc. Nat.' torn. xv. 1872. 

 wissen. Vortrage,' 18*38, s. 61. Also 



