Page 209 - The Evolution Impasse 2

Taung Child Fossil, The 207

TAUNG CHILD FOSSIL, THE Ape-Man in South Africa." Scientists
who said that the fos sil ac tu al ly be -
All Australopithecus fos sils have
longed to a chim pan zee did not take
been un earthed in the south ern part
Dart se ri ous ly. Yet he per sist ed with
of the African con ti nent. The rea son
the idea that the fos sil was a hom i -
why this spe cies has been giv en the
nid and con vinced Dr. Robert
name Australopithecus, mean ing
Bloom, a fa mous phys i cist, of this,
"South African ape," is that these an -
de vot ing the rest of his life to find ing
i mals have fea tures very sim i lar to
sup port for the new spe cies he had
those of present-day apes.
found. Even then, sci en tif ic cir cles
The first fos sils claimed to be long
be gan jok ing ly re fer ring to the fos sil
to this spe cies were found in a coal
he had found as "Dart's ba by."
mine in the Taung re gion of South
Evolutionists then lined up be hind
Africa in 1924. The first fos sil de -
the fos sil, in vent ing a new spe cies to
scribed as Australopithecus con sist -
which they had giv en the name
ed of a young ape's face and low er
Australopithecus. The first fos sil dis -
jaw bones, and a skull of 410 cu bic
cov ered was giv en the full name
cen ti me ters in vol ume. The dis cov -
Australopithecus af ri ca nus.
er ers of the fos sil took it to Raymond
Following the dis cov ery of this
Dart, an an thro pol o gist.
fos sil, which was giv -
Based on the skull's
en the nick name
fine struc ture and
of "the Taung
think ing that
Child" be cause
its teeth re -
it was thought
sem bled hu -
to be long to a
man teeth,
young in di vid u -
Dr. Dart
al, oth er pa le on -
sug gest ed
tol o gists—es pe -
that the fos sil
cial ly the Leakey
be longed to a
fam i ly—stepped
hom i nid. Shortly
up their own re -
aft er wards, he pub -
search. In the
lished an ar ti cle in
1950s, oth er fos sils
Nature mag a zine ti -
re gard ed as be -
tled "Australopithecus:
The Taung Child fos sil long ing to
Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar