First in Line: Tracing Our Ape Ancestry

219 Pages·2005·0.83 MB·English

by  Tom Gundling (Author)

First in Line

First in Line
Tracing Our Ape Ancestry
Tom Gundling
Yale University Press
New Haven & London
Copyright ∫ 2005 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any
form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law
and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the
publishers.
Set in Minion type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gundling, Tom, 1962–
First in line : tracing our ape ancestry / Tom Gundling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-300-10414-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Human beings—Origin. 2. Fossil hominids. 3. Australopithecines.
4. Paleoanthropology. I. Title.
gn281.g86 2005
569.9—dc22
2004059897
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Dr. Frank Spencer, whom I never met
in person but wish I had

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xii
Prologue 1
1. The Great Chain Legacy 6
2. Putting the Chain in Motion 24
3. Finding Missing Links 42
4. The Southern Ape 58
5. Darwin Redux 101
Epilogue 141
Appendixes 155
Notes 159
Bibliography 175
Index 193

Preface
As a self-conscious species, Homo sapiens’ consequent introspection
sometimes leads to the seemingly logical conclusion that we hold a
special, even central place in nature. Even a cursory historical exam-
ination of Western thought demonstrates that humans have placed
themselves atop the natural world, often justifying this unique posi-
tion through the belief that we are made in God’s image. In contrast,
Galileo demonstrated that our planet did not occupy the center of
the universe, while Newton and innumerable others showed us that
we could understand our surroundings without recourse to super-
natural agencies. Darwin taught us that biological evolution is the
only logical way of understanding the pattern of biological diversity
on Earth. All of these realizations were accompanied by great angst,
as they jeopardized Homo sapiens’ self-appointed position as the
pinnacle of earthly creation. This is a book about a relatively recent
discovery that perhaps once and for all has knocked the legs out
from under the pedestal upon which we have placed ourselves. The
discovery in ancient South African limestone caves of very distant
human ancestors reified Darwin’s hypothesis that we evolved from
some apelike form, which firmly reconnected us with the rest of the
natural world.