Human Evolution: Java Man and Taung Child

Java Man (Homo erectus erectus)

• Discovered in 1891-1892 on the island of Java (Indonesia) by Eugène Dubois.
• Estimated age: 700,000 to 1,490,000 years old.
• Initially named Anthropopithecus erectus, later reclassified as Homo erectus erectus.
• Fossils included a tooth, skullcap, and thighbone, found near the Solo River.
• Considered the oldest hominid fossil at the time of discovery.
• Remains the type specimen for Homo erectus.
• Housed at the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands since 1900.
• Initial reception varied, with some dismissing it as an ape or modern human, while others saw it as an unrelated evolutionary branch.

Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus)

• Fossilized skull of a young Australopithecus africanus.
• Discovered in 1924 at Taung, South Africa, by quarry workers.
• Described by Raymond Dart in 1925 in Nature.
• Housed at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
• Initially considered by some to be a young ape, not a human ancestor.
• Dart's theory gained acceptance by the 1940s.
• In 2006, Lee Berger suggested that the Taung Child may have been killed by a large bird of prey based on skull damage.

Reasons for Initial Dissent Regarding Taung Child

• Belief that human ancestors developed large brains early in their evolution. The Taung Child's small brain size challenged this notion.
• Prevailing belief in the late 1920s and early 1930s that human evolution originated in Asia, not Africa.
• Widely held view that the Homo genus diverged from great apes much earlier (30 million years ago), making a recent small-brained, ape-like ancestor like Australopithecus africanus seem unlikely.

Java Man (Homo erectus)

• Discovered in 1891-1892 on the island of Java, Indonesia, by Eugène Dubois's team.
• Found near the Solo River.
• Fossils included a tooth, skullcap, and thighbone.
• Initially named Anthropopithecus erectus, later classified as Homo erectus.
• Estimated age: 700,000 to 1,490,000 years old.
• Considered the oldest hominid fossil at the time of its discovery.
• Initially, its significance as a transitional form between apes and humans was debated.
• Some considered it an ape, others a modern human, and still others a primitive unrelated species.
• In the 1970s, it became regarded by some as a subspecies, Homo erectus erectus.
• Housed at the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands since 1900.
• Other older Homo erectus fossils were subsequently discovered in Java in the first half of the 20th century.

Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus)

• Fossilized skull of a young Australopithecus africanus.
• Discovered in 1924 in Taung, South Africa, by quarrymen working for the Northern Lime Company.
• Described as a new species by Raymond Dart in 1925 in Nature.
• Located at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
• Dubbed one of "the most important anthropological fossils of the twentieth century".
• Described by Dart as "an extinct race of apes intermediate between living anthropoids and man".
• Initial reception was mixed, with debate over whether it was a young ape or a human ancestor.
• Dart's theory was largely confirmed decades later.
• 2006 study by Lee Berger suggested that the Taung Child may have been killed by a large bird of prey (eagle).

Reasons for Early Dissent Regarding Taung Child

• Belief that human ancestors evolved large brains early, making the Taung Child's small brain and human-like teeth puzzling.
• The prevailing belief in the early 20th century that human evolution occurred in Asia, not Africa.
• The commonly held view that the genus Homo diverged from great apes much earlier (30 million years ago) than the suggested age for Australopithecus africanus (2 million years).

Java Man

• Discovered in 1891-1892 on the island of Java, Indonesia by Eugène Dubois's team.
• Initially named Anthropopithecus erectus, later reclassified as Homo erectus.
• Estimated age: 700,000 to 1,490,000 years old.
• Fossils included a tooth, skullcap, and thighbone found along the Solo River.
• Initially considered a "missing link," but acceptance as a human ancestor was slow and varied.
• Some scientists considered it an ape, a modern human, or a primitive evolutionary side branch unrelated to modern humans.
• In the 1970s, some began to classify it as a subspecies, Homo erectus erectus.
• Housed at the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands since 1900.
• Other older Javan Homo erectus fossils were discovered later in the 20th century.

Taung Child

• Fossilized skull of a young Australopithecus africanus.
• Discovered in 1924 in Taung, South Africa by quarry workers.
• Described by Raymond Dart in 1925 in Nature as a new species.
• Housed at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
• Described as "the most important anthropological fossil of the twentieth century."
• Initially sparked debate about its classification as an ape ancestor or a human ancestor.
• Dart's theory was confirmed decades later, in 1947 at a Pan African Congress on Prehistory.
• In 2006, Lee Berger suggested the Taung Child may have been killed by a large bird of prey.

Reasons for Initial Dissent over Taung Child Significance

• Contradicted the belief that human ancestors evolved large brains early. The Taung Child had a small brain.
• Contradicted the prevalent belief (until the 1940s) that humans evolved in Asia, not Africa.
• Contradicted the widespread belief that the Homo genus split from great apes 30 million years ago. The Taung Child, being only two million years old, fit uneasily with the prevailing timeline.