HUMAN ORGANIC EVOLUTION: FACT OR FANCY? 



follows: A cranial capacity on the average of about 860 cc 

 with a range of 775 to 1000 cc at the very most. The 

 endocranial caste suggests resemblances to the hylobates, 

 though it is much larger, and has a much more complicated 

 sulcal pattern. But in relation to overall body size, the brain 

 is small. The skull itself is rather flatheaded, with a receding 

 forehead, maximum breadth of skull is much lower down on 

 the parietal region than in modern man. There is also a median 

 sagittal ridge, though very slight when compared to some of 

 the apes. Further, there is a very marked postorbital construc- 

 tion which accentuates the very' pronounced supraorbital ridges. 

 The occipital torus is higher up on the head, suggesting 

 powerful neck muscle attachements at the back of the head. 

 On the other hand, the head seems to have been balanced 

 near the fulcrum on the spinal column, a distinct hominid 

 feature. The palate though much larger than in man has 

 nevertheless hominid contours. The face, however, is quite 

 prognathous. On the other hand the mandible shows hominid 

 features in general contour although there is no chin. Teeth 

 show a mixture of simian and hominid features, with a slight 

 overlap of the canines. Also simian is the increase in size of 

 teeth from front to back. On the other hand, the dental arcade 

 is parabolic, and there are other hominid traits in the teeth, 

 too numerous to be mentioned here. Most important is the 

 fact that the femur is in no way different from that of Homo 

 sapiens. In general, it may be said that this group of fossils 

 shows a number of gibbonoid similarities. But it must also be 

 remarked, that modern gibbon and Pithecanthropus are not 

 coequal in time so that such comparisons serve only to show 

 very remote relationships. 



The closely related fossil from the Chou Kou Tien Cave 

 near Pekin, China first found by Davidson Black in 1927 

 and named by him, Sinanthropus Pekinensis on the basis of 

 a tooth alone, are now very numerous and shed considerable 

 light on the Genus Pithecanthropus. This group of fossils is 

 known from fourteen calvaria, portions of facial bones, many 

 teeth, and a few limb bones all from middle Pleistocene times. 

 It generally shows many similarities to Java man, just discussed, 

 but also some differences, however, not of a generic kind. 

 These may be listed as follows: The cranial capacity is greater 



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