of animal life, culminating in a specific case of human brain expan- 

 sion. I suspect that, had it not been for the appearance of effective 

 predators during the Cambrian explosion of animal life, we would 

 still be luxuriating in the tranquil seas of the Garden of Ediacara. 

 Furthermore, had it not been for abundant predators in the new 

 habitats forced on early hominids by the effects of global cooling, 

 we would still be in a Miocene-style forest, enjoying the abundant 

 fruits of the forest. 



Shortly before he died, Raymond Dart said to me, "Never let the 

 facts get in the way of a good story." It remains to be seen how 

 many disruptive facts will intrude on this particular story in the 

 years to come. 



Acknowledgments 



I would like to thank Ian Tattersall for his invitation to me to give 

 this James Arthur Lecture and Jeff Laitman for his kind recommen- 

 dation in this regard. Ken Mowbray has been very helpful with 

 arrangements for my visit to New York — a visit that also allowed 

 me to spend some time in the Bahamas en route, examining specific 

 issues of carbonate sedimentation on the island that are of particular 

 relevance to my current Namibian fossil project. I am most grateful 

 to have had this opportunity. 



REFERENCES 



Aiello. L. C, and P. Wheeler 



1995. The expensive tissue hypothesis. The brain and the digestive system in 

 human and primate evolution. Curr. Anthropol. 36(2): 199-221. 

 Ardrey, R. 



1961 . African genesis. A personal investigation into the animal origins and nature 

 of man. London: Collins. 

 Bengtson. S.. and Y. Zhao 



1992. Predatorial borings in Late Precambrian mineralised exoskeletons. Science 

 257: 367-369. 

 Berger, L. R., and R. J. Clarke 



1995. Eagle involvement in the accumulation of the Taung child fauna. J. Hum. 

 Evol. 29: 275-299. 



28 



