Page Six 



E V O L U T I O N 



March. 1929 



bail's of Giant Fossil Shark. 



the Miottne ocean unpopular. Megalodon and a contemporary 

 and closely related species that originated with him in Eocene 

 times may have had something to do with the extinction of 

 Ztuglodon. This second species has a little projection at the 

 base of the cutting teeth, like an "ear" on a jar, so that it is 

 named auricuIatKS, or eared. The edges of its teeth are also 

 more saw-like and with its length of fifty or sixty feet and 

 better armament, it must have been most formidable. The 

 supply of teeth never ran short, for back of each tooth in 

 use lay a reserve of six or seven smaller but growing teeth 

 ready to replace each front tooth lost and, like a well-trained 

 soldier, to keep the line unbroken. 



Once fairly started, these huge sharks swarmed everywhere 

 that the water was warm enough, for their teeth occur in 

 Tertiary strata in many parts of the world, and the deep- 

 sea dredges of the Challenger and Albatross brought them 

 up by scores. And then they perished utterly. Why? We 

 do not know. Did they devour everything throughout their 

 habitat and fall to eating each other? We do not know. But 

 perish they did, while the smaller white shark lives on. as 

 if to prove that it is best not to overdo things and .that 

 victory is not in the long run always to the largest. 



The Anthropoid Apes 



By EDWARD GRIEG CLEMMER 



This is the first of a series of four articles on The Ancestors 

 of Modern Man by the same atifhor. The next u-iU be on 

 The Earliest Men. 



THE living anthropoid, or man-like, apes are four in 

 number, the gorilla and chimpanzee of Africa, and the 

 gibbon and orang of Asia. Their near relationship to man 

 is proved lieyond reasonable doubt by comparative anatomy. 

 The gibbon is generically the lowest. It usually stands 

 about three feet tall and has the longest arms in propor- 

 tion to the body in the family. The arms are so long that 

 the hands reach the ground even when the gibbon stands 

 erect. Its natural habitat being in the trees, it does not 

 se<;m to know what to do with its arms when it is forced 

 to walk on the ground. In such circumstances it may rest 

 the palms of the hands downward on the ground or raise 



the arms above the head. But in the trees the gibbon uses 

 his long arms to advantage, swinging and leaping twelve 

 to fifteen feet in a single jump. His arms have undoubtedly 

 been lengthened by this necessity of his environment. 



The Orang-utang, found in the woods of Borneo and 

 Sumatra, stands second in the anthropoia scale. Indeed, 

 the name in Malay means "Man of the Woods." The orang 

 is usually about four feet in height and very bulky, measur- 

 ing in circumference two-thirds its height. The arms are 

 very long, reaching a spread of seven feet in an adult male. 

 It is not as adept at arboreal life as the gibbon, but climbs 

 deliberately as if not really used to such hazards. Yet he 

 is not a slow traveller, for he can make as much time in 

 the tree tops as a man on the ground. 



The chimpanzees are the most interesting of the apes. 

 They are found in equatorial Africa and are much less 

 arboreal in their habits than the orangs. When they walk 

 on the ground they assist themselves by touching their 

 knuckles, being unable to walk upright more than a few fe-et. 



They are the most intelligent of the apes and can be 

 taught to do many things a human being does. They can 

 learn to eat in a civilized manner, dress in modern clothes, 

 smoke and ride a bicycle. They take pride in their bag- 

 full of tricks and have some capacity for performing 

 original feats. The young are docile, but with puberty their 

 temper changes and it is not safe to give them free rein 

 thereafter. Many a young chimpanzee has delighted an 

 audience with his mischievous and original performances. 



In the minds of most people, the gorilla is the bizarre 

 member of the family. This is on account of his great size 

 and the tales of his ferocity and human ways of "trapping" 

 his victims. Carl Akelev has, however, exploded many of 

 the gorilla myths. He found him very peaceful if left to 

 himself, but once aroused, a formidable enemy. An aQult 

 male stands about five feet seven inches when erect and 

 weighs about three hundred and fifty pounds. 



The gorilla is not tree-dwelling. It sleeps in nests on 

 the ground, not elaborately built, but made of any twigs 

 and leaves within easy reach. It usually travels in a family 

 of eight or ten, consisting of three or niore females, several 

 offspring and from one to four males. It never walks up- 

 right, but on all fours, leaning the body forward with the 

 knuckles touching the ground. We have little knowledge 

 of its intelligence, as captured specimens rarely survive. 



Practically all the anatomical changes which distinguish 

 man from the apes are due to two causes; the forced change 

 from the arboreal to the ground life, and the development 

 nf greater intelligence in man. When man's ancestors 

 descended from the trees to the ground, they found it 

 advantageous to develop an upright carriage. This made 

 for stronger calf and hip muscles and changes in the big 

 toe. The upright position also changed the position of the 

 head on the spine, and the long ape arms, not being needed 

 on the ground, were gradually shortened, if they were ever 

 really developed in man's early ancestors. 



In spite of some differences which may seem wide, the 

 fundamental structures of the apes and man are closely 

 similar. Moreover, modern blood tests indicate their kin- 

 ship. There can be no reasonable doubt, in the face of the 

 mass of scientific evidence and the unanimous conclusion 

 nf the scientific specialists, that man and the anthropoid 

 apes are blood cousins. 



