STARTLING THEORY ABOUT APES

Shannon News, 9 October 1925, Page 4

STARTLING THEORY ABOUT APES

MAN’S DESCENDANT, PROFESSOR SAYS, t HIS VIEW IS OPPOSED BY ENGLISH EXPERT. “Faithful investigation,” declared Professor Wood-Jones, Professor of Anatomy in the University of Adelaide, in an address at Melbourne, “has led me to the startling conclusion that the anthropoid ape, commonly regarded by anthropologists as man’s ancestor, is really his descendant. It is time we dropped the erroneous assumption that Darwin proved man’? descent from the monkey. It is absurd to look for the missing link, since man’s evolution occurred so early and by far antedated the remains discovered in comparatively modern earth layers.” Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, formerly director of the British Natural History Museum at South Kensington, in an interview in regard to Professor Wood-Jones’ contention, stated that the views of all those who had gone deeply into the question of man’s origin and evolution were entirely opposed to the conclusions of Professor Wood-Jones. “I knew Professor WoodJones well,” Sir Arthur said, “when he was in London, and I remember him expressing in a lecture he delivered at I Thing’s College in 1918, and which was afterwards published in book, form with the title, ‘The Problem of Man’s Ancestry,’ certain ideas on the same lines as those now formulated in his lecture. “The lecture gives an entirely wrong impression to those who have not investigated the question thoroughly. Briefly, the present view held regarding the relation between man and the ape is that all the evidence goes to show* that man and the ape came from a common ancestor; but, whereas the apes adapted themselves to living in a forest, man adapted himself to living in an erect posture on the plains. “There is no doubt that if the common ancester were living now he would be classed as an ape or monkey. The little animal, Tarsius, which inhabits the. forests of Borneo, is believed by anthropologists to be more* like the common ancestor of man and ape than any other Jiving creature. Fossils strongly resembling the animal have been found in the Eocene rocks of Europe and North America, and fossils of creatures belonging to the same group discovered in different places clearly indicate that this form of life was at one time to be met witl! in all parts of the northern hemisphere. “There is no doubt that some day there ■will be discovered man’s comj mon ancestor, and, when found, in all i probability he will be like this little animal Tarsius. It is absurd to say that the missing links are so ancient that they will never be found, as Professor Wood-Jones does. In fact, palaeontologists are as hopeful as ever of finding the missing links, and there is at the moment in Mongolia an American expedition searching for fossilised forms of ancient man. There have been many suggestions as to which part of the earth man originally inhabited, but I should not be at all surprised if man’s cradle proved to be Mongolia.”