HUMAN ORGANIC EVOLUTION: FACT OR FANCY? 



Introduction 



There is a story, quoted by Dobzansky.i that when Darwin's 

 theory of man's non-human ancestry became known, a Lady 

 cried: "Descended from the apes! My dear, we will hope 

 that is not true. But if it is, let us pray that it may not become 

 generally known." As it was, the theory that Charles Darwin 

 so ably argued, has in fact become not only widely known, 

 but also widely accepted. Nevertheless, to many it still is 

 either repugnant, or undesirable on religious grounds, to 

 seriously consider the theory proposed by Darwin a hundred 

 years ago. Even now after it has been refined in the various 

 branches of Biology and in Anthropology, primarily because 

 of relatively recent advances in the life sciences it still presents 

 problems to many. But as Father de Chardin- observed, the 

 idea of ancient fossilized ancestry of man ... "represents a 

 surprisingly recent conquest of the modern mind. Today no 

 one any longer questions it, or even wonders at it." But of 

 course, there are exceptions, and the oft-mentioned Scopes 

 monkey trial of Tennessee attests to the fact that emotion can 

 still run high when discussing the evolution of species in 

 general, and of man in particular. 



This paper will attempt to avoid the problem of religion 

 and evolution, not because this particular question is not 

 important, but for present purposes it is not relevant. The 

 assignment given, as it is interpreted here, is to look at the 

 evidence for evolution as we know it today, a hundred years 

 since Darwin published The Origin of Species.'^ The first 

 task then will be to examine the fact that there are many 

 organic species closely related to man, some of which are 

 also to be found in the fossil records which are often inter- 

 mediate between the various contemporary forms. After looking 

 at this kind of evidence, it will be convenient to look at some 

 of the ways in which the diversity of specific forms has been 

 explained in the past and see how these explanations compare 



Theodosius Dobzhansky, Evolution, Genetics, and Man, New York, 



1955, p. 319. 



Pierre Teilhard dc Chardin, "The Idea of Fossil Man," Anthropology 



Today (A. L. Kroeber, ed.), Chicago, 1953, p. 93. 



On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. 1859. 



Reprint of the first edition, New York, 1951. 



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