The Tetrapoda: Mammals 641 



Nevertheless fragmentary remains have been and are being discovered 

 through the persistent efiforts of many anthropologists. Even these 

 few remains however do give some concept of the evokitionary his- 

 tory of man. 



From the primitive insectivores, the primates arose and must have 

 soon differentiated into the Hues which lead to man and the anthropoid 

 apes and the New and Old World monkeys. Certainly no living ape or 

 monkey may be said to be more than very distantly related to man. 



South African Discoveries. — South Africa would appear to be 

 a most unlikely place in which to look for man's ancestors. It is 

 at least 1,000 miles south of the known ranges of man's nearest living 

 relatives, the anthropoid apes, and further it is a relatively inhospi- 

 table dry region. It was here, however, in the early 1920's that star- 

 tling discoveries which cast new light on man's ancestry were made. 

 In 1925, Professor Dart announced the discovery of a fossil brain cast 

 of a new type of anthropoid. This brain cast was found in deposits 

 dating from either Pliocene or early Pleistocene times. From his 

 studies, Dart was convinced that this skull was definitely human inas- 

 much as the teeth are more human than apelike. He named this form 

 Australopithecus ajricanus, and regarded it to be a new primate, closer 

 to man than any previously discovered forms. Possibly it was even 

 in the direct line of human descent. 



This work was not highly regarded until after Dr. Broom un- 

 covered additional genera in an area not far from that of the original 

 discoveries. These additional finds indicated that these forms walked 

 upright and some may even have used fire. Dart later concluded that 

 Australopithecus was a genuine, though unusual, fossil type. He de- 

 cided that though it was related to living anthropoid apes, it showed 

 closer relationships to some extinct humanlike forms that lived dur- 

 ing the Pleistocene in southern Africa. He felt that the evidence in- 

 dicated definite advances in the direction of mankind. 



In spite of the humanlike teeth of these forms, their brains re- 

 mained poorly developed, thus perhaps they should be regarded as 

 intelligent apes rather than unintelligent human beings. Though these 

 forms died out, leaving no direct ancestors, their interest lies in the 

 fact that they indicate the beginnings of the human line. They were 

 derived from extinct apes which were ancestral to both the human line 

 and the modern apes. 



