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an undistinguished position as a professor of geology at theuniversity of amsterdam and for the next two decades refused to let anyone examine hisprecious fossils again。 he died in 1940 an unhappy man。
meanwhile； and half a world away； in late 1924 raymond dart； the australian…born head ofanatomy at the university of the witwatersrand in johannesburg； was sent a small butremarkably plete skull of a child； with an intact face； a lower jaw； and what is known asan endocast—a natural cast of the brain—from a limestone quarry on the edge of the kalaharidesert at a dusty spot called taung。 dart could see at once that the taung skull was not of ahomo erectus like dubois’s java man； but from an earlier； more apelike creature。 he placedits age at two million years and dubbed it australopithecus africanus； or “southern ape man ofafrica。” in a report to nature； dart called the taung remains “amazingly human” and suggested the need for an entirely new family； homo simiadae （“the man…apes”）； toacmodate the find。
the authorities were even less favorably disposed to dart than they had been to dubois。
nearly everything about his theory—indeed； nearly everything about dart； it appears—annoyed them。 first he had proved himself lamentably presumptuous by conducting theanalysis himself rather than calling on the help of more worldly experts in europe。 even hischosen name； australopithecus； showed a lack of scholarly application； bining as it didgreek and latin roots。 above all； his conclusions flew in the face of accepted wisdom。
humans and apes； it was agreed； had split apart at least fifteen million years ago in asia。 ifhumans had arisen in africa； why； that would make us negroid； for goodness sake。 it wasrather as if someone working today were to announce that he had found the ancestral bones ofhumans in； say； missouri。 it just didn’t fit with what was known。
dart’s sole supporter of note was robert broom； a scottish…born physician andpaleontologist of considerable intellect and cherishably eccentric nature。 it was broom’shabit； for instance； to do his fieldwork naked when the weather was warm； which was often。
he was also known for conducting dubious anatomical experiments on his poorer and moretractable patients。 when the patients died； which was also often； he would sometimes burytheir bodies in his back garden to dig up for study later。
broom was an acplished paleontologist； and since he was also resident in south africahe was able to examine the taung skull at first hand。 he could see at once that it was asimportant as dart supposed and spoke out vigorously on dart’s behalf； but to no effect。 forthe next fifty years the received wisdom was that the taung child was an ape and nothingmore。 most textbooks didn’t even mention it。 dart spent five years working up a monograph；but could find no one to publish it。 eventually he gave up the quest to publish altogether（though he did continue hunting for fossils）。 for years； the skull—today recognized as one ofthe supreme treasures of anthropology—sat as a paperweight on a colleague’s desk。
at the time dart made his announcement in 1924； only four categories of ancient hominidwere known—homo heidelbergensis； homo rhodesiensis； neandertals； and dubois’s javaman—but all that was about to change in a very big way。
first； in china； a gifted canadian amateur named davidson black began to poke around ata place； dragon bone hill； that was locally famous as a hunting ground for old bones。
unfortunately； rather than preserving the bones for study； the chinese ground them up tomake medicines。 we can only guess how many priceless homo erectus bones ended up as asort of chinese equivalent of bicarbonate of soda。 the site had been much denuded by thetime black arrived； but he found a single fossilized molar and on the basis of that alone quitebrilliantly announced the discovery of sinanthropus pekinensis； which quickly became knownas peking man。
at black’s urging； more determined excavations were undertaken and many other bonesfound。 unfortunately all were lost the day after the japanese attack on pearl harbor in 1941when a contingent of u。s。 marines； trying to spirit the bones （and themselves） out of thecountry； was intercepted by the japanese and imprisoned。 seeing that their crates held nothingbut bones； the japanese soldiers left them at the roadside。 it was the last that was ever seen ofthem。
in the meantime； back on dubois’s old turf of java； a team led by ralph von koenigswaldhad found another group of early humans； which became known as the solo people from thesite of their discovery on the solo river at ngandong。 koenigswald’s discoveries might havebeen more impressive still but for a tactical error that was realized too late。 he had offeredlocals ten cents for every piece of hominid bone they could e up with； then discovered tohis horror that they had been enthusiastically smashing large pieces into small ones tomaximize their ine。
in the following years as more bones were found and identified there came a flood of newnames—homo aurignacensis； australopithecus transvaalensis； paranthropus crassidens；zinjanthropus boisei；and scores of others； nearly all involving a new genus type as well as anew species。 by the 1950s； the number of named hominid types had risen to fortably overa hundred。 to add to the confusion； individual forms often went by a succession of differentnames as paleoanthropologists refined； reworked； and squabbled over classifications。 solopeople were known variously as homo soloensis； homo primigenius asiaticus； homoneanderthalensis soloensis； homo sapiens soloensis； homo erectus erectus； and； finally； plainhomo erectus 。
in an attempt to introduce some order； in 1960 f。 clark howell of the university ofchicago； following the suggestions of ernst mayr and others the previous decade； proposedcutting the number of genera to just two—australopithecus and homo —and rationalizingmany of the species。 the java and peking men both became homo erectus。 for a time orderprevailed in the world of the hominids。
2it didn’t last。
after about a decade of parative calm； paleoanthropology embarked on another periodof swift and pr