L48 Anthro 150A Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Homo Erectus, Neanderthal 1, Transitional Fossil
Document Summary
Maybe the transitional species was in asia: dubois signs up for military, gets shipped to indonesia, starts dig in 1887, in 1891 dubois found homo erectus. Skull is pinched behind the eye, brain is small, large brow ridge. Went home to tell scientific community, but no one believed him: his success sparks a push to find these fossils. Asia is the hotbed for finding new fossils. People follow up the work of eugene dubois and begin to put the evolution story together. Picked up initially by davidson black (canadian) medically trained anatomy professor. Franz weidenrich took great notes and made precise casts. Cranium of a person with the jaw of an orangutan. Found in europe, completely fit people"s preconceived ideas. Somebody inserts hoax that fits with people"s idea. People were not critical of it because they did not realize how incorrect their preconceived ideas were: raymond dart. He discovered the taung child fossil in south africa.
