HUMAN ORGANIC EVOLUTION: FACT OR FANCY? 



(1075 cc average, range 850 to 1300 cc), there is greater 

 variance in size of skull which may show sex differences, 

 palate is smaller and more hominid than in the Java fossil, 

 but the mandible is still very robust and without a chin, while 

 the ascending ramus is quite broad. The dentition is excep- 

 tionally well known, characterized by great variation in size, 

 shape and robustness, but the canines do not overlap or 

 project as in Java man. Most importantly, the femora, humeri, 

 clavicle and carpal cannot be distinguished from Homo 

 Sapiens. The height has been estimated at 53/2 ^^^^' ^^^^ is. 

 this fossil was shorter than Java man. In making an overall 

 comparison it can be said that Java man generally is somewhat 

 more "primitive." Though according to Clark, morphologically 

 they are quite similar, differences are only to be found in 

 specific traits. There is, however, this significant difference: 

 associated with the Peking finds were chopping tools, hand 

 axes, simple flake tools also animal bones, and hearths, not 

 to mention deer bones and hackberry seeds. 



All this suggests, and there is general concensus of opinion, 

 that Pithecanthropus stands in an ancestral relationship to 

 Homo. It is not to be interpreted that this genus is itself the 

 ancestor of man but that the genus shared a common ancestral 

 form with the genus Homo. The transition, by this hypothesis, 

 probably occured in some other part of the world. It seems, 

 then, that Pithecanthropus represents a radiation away from 

 the Pongidae. In this view Australopithecus is intermediate 

 between Pithecanthropus and the Pongidae, suggested by 

 erect posture, while yet retaining some simian feature of the 

 skull. 



Now directing the focus of discussion on Europe, there is 

 a long series of highly variable fossils already mentioned, the 

 Group Homo neanderthal ensis or simply Neanderthal Man. 

 All these fossils are said to come from the first phase of the 

 last Glaciation (Wurm 1 ) and are known from nine widely 

 separated sites over western Europe. The fossils from these 

 sites present consistent differences from other forms so that 

 the group may be discussed as a species of Homo, which will 

 facilitate comparison with Homo sapien^s. 



The type is characterized by some striking similarities with 

 some earlier fossils already discussed. For instance, there is 



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