An Ankle-Bone of the Ape-Man, Paranthropus robustus

Abstract

EVERY addition to our knowledge of the structure of the ape-men of South Africa is likely to be welcomed even though the addition may appear to be a very small one. The Taungs ape, and those discovered at Sterkfontein and Kromdraai, have revealed a group of higher Primates which are very much nearer to man than any living anthropoids, or any of the fossil forms previously discovered. Though the brains are sub-human in size, they are much nearer in structure to that of man than are the brains of the gorilla and chimpanzee, and the, dentition is practically human. All the fragments we have of the post-cranial skeleton are so nearly human that had they been found isolated most anatomists would probably have maintained that they were human.