Page 128 - The Transitional Form Dilemma

THE TRANSITIONAL-FORM DILEMMA

and Paranthropus, known as A. robustus—exhibit classic ape characteris-
tics:
Among the fossil hominids the earliest species to demonstrate the modern
human morphology is Homo erectus. In contrast, the semicircular canal di-
mensions in crania from southern Africa attributed to Australopithecus and
Paranthropus resemble those of the extant great apes 101
In their study of the H. habilis fossil Stw 53, Spoor, Wood and
Zonneveld found, surprisingly, that “Stw 53 displayed less two-legged
behaviour than Australopithecines.” This meant that the H. habilis speci-
men resembled an ape far more than did Australopithecus. These re-
searchers therefore concluded that Stw 53 represents an unlikely
intermediate between the morphologies seen in the Australopithecines
and H. erectus. 102

In a 1999 article published in Science, Wood and Collard repeated
the conclusion arrived at:
We present a revised definition, based on verifiable criteria, for Homo and con-
clude that two species, Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, do not belong in
the genus. 103
As a result of their own research, some scientists such as S.
Hartwig-Scherer and R. D. Martin stated that H. habilis exhibited far

more ape-like features than Australopithecus:

Australopithecus robustus possesses
classical ape features.

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