Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6. Dart's identifications of the lunate sulcus and certain func-
tional areas on Taung's endocast. The air-brushed region represents
parieto-occipito-temporal association cortex, which Dart thought
was greatly enlarged compared with that of apes (figure modified,
including a thickened lunate sulcus, after an illustration from Dart's
1959 memoirs). The labels reflect Dart's terminology. Today, “feeling”
would be replaced with “sensation” (e.g., pain, temperature, touch),
and memory is no longer thought to be localized, as Dart depicted.
back on Dart's 32nd birthday, he was eager, and a little apprehensive, to
know what members of the Piltdown committee, including his mentor,
would think of his impending report in
Nature.
Would his identification
of Taung's lunate sulcus in a posterior (supposedly humanlike) position
lure them away from their conviction that the oldest missing link was
an Englishman? Dart would soon find out.
