Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
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It is reasonable to remind readers . . . of two important
historical facts: (1) by any standards, W. E. LeGros Clark
was a superb . . . neuroanatomist with a strong comparative
interest and training; (2) Raymond Dart was a protégé of
G. E. Smith, who devoted a very considerable portion of his
professional career to the study of the lunate sulcus. Dart's
early publications were in comparative neuroanatomy.
These points are only mentioned to indicate that those
who did study the original specimens were well-versed
regarding comparative neuroanatomy and the lunate
sulcus in particular.
Ralph Holloway
In the face of discoveries of hundreds of australopithecine teeth and fos-
silized fragments of bones, along with a handful of relatively complete
skulls and isolated natural endocasts that accumulated during 20-some
years following Dart's announcement of Taung, scientific luminaries
who had once opposed his views concluded that he had, indeed, been
right about
Australopithecus africanus
being an upright-walking forerun-
ner of humans. Some even allowed that he had been right about Taung's
brain being advanced compared with an ape's—but not for the reason
ing the first half of the twentieth century could be competitive, cliqu-
ish, political, and ad hominem toward those who challenged their views.
This is still the case, as I can attest from firsthand experience that began
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