The Geologist/Volume 5/Fossil Monkeys
DRYOPITHECUS FONTANI.
[From M. Lartet's Original Figures.]
Figs. 1 and 2. Jaw in three pieces (top view), 3. Side view of Jaw.
THE GEOLOGIST.
MARCH 1862.
FOSSIL MONKEYS.
By Charles Carter Blake, Esq.
In these days of progress, when the alleged origin of the human race from a transmuted gorilla is canvassed as a demonstrable and demonstrated theory by many geologists and zoologists, and the pens of various distinguished writers are occupied to prove the absolute identity of man's physiological and psychological nature with that of the beasts of the field, it behoves the candid student of palæontology to inquire what are the fossil members of the Order of Mammalia immediately beneath man—the Quadrumana, and whether they are such individuals as might fulfil the hypothetical condition of being his ancestors, under any of the "derivative" theories propounded by Darwin or Lamarck.
Humerus of Dryopithecus Fontani. (Scale 12 linear.)
In venturing upon this field of error, doubt, and confusion, I wish dispassionately to endeavour to divest myself of any adherence to any prevailing doctrine. Imbued strongly with the conviction of the unity of type of all animals, and with the probability of their common origin by secondary law, yet I advocate no theory which derives man- kind from any known recent or fossil species of animal. Convinced of the distinctive peculiarities of the human brain, characters not satisfactorily demonstrated in any animal, yet I do not shut my eyes to the analogy which sometimes exists between the structures in the lowest men and the highest apes. Affirming both man's psychological supremacy, as "a little lower than the angels," and his physiological adaptation as the highest of animals, contradicting neither the cherished and captivating precepts of Teleology, nor the bold and comprehensive generalizations of Morphology, the palæontologist who loves truth alone for truth's sake has most need to join in the prayer of Bunsen,
"Father ! as upward I gaze, strengthen my eye and my heart."
Geological science, steadily progressing since the time of Cuvier, in whose time no species of fossil monkey was known, now discloses to us no fewer than thirteen species of Quadrumana, as by the annexed table:—
| Eocene. | Miocene. | Pliocene. | Locality. | |
| Catarrhini (Old World Monkeys) | ||||
Dryopithecus Fontani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | * | — | France: Gers. |
Pliopithecus antiquus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | * | — | France: Gers. |
Mesopithecus Pentelicus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | * | — | Greece: Pikermi. |
Mesopithecus major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | * | — | Greece: Pikermi. |
Semnopithecus magnus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | India: Sewalik. |
Semnopithecus sp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | India. |
Semnopithecus monspessulanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | France: Montpellier. |
Macacus pliocenus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | Engl.: Grays, Essex. |
Eopithecus Colchesteri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
* | — | — | Engl.: Kyson, Suffolk. |
| Platyrrhini (New World Monkeys) | ||||
Protopithecus Brasiliensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | Brazil. |
Cebus macrognathus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | Brazil. |
Callithrix primævus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | Brazil. |
Jacchus grandis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
— | — | * | Brazil. |
It is worthy of remark that no fossil species of Strepsirhine Quadrumana, or Lemurs, has hitherto been discovered; but when we reflect on the restricted locality of the modern Lemuridæ to Madagascar and to a few of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, countries where the geologist's hammer has not yet rung, we may reasonably expect that the industry of such enterprising travellers as Dr. Sandwith may procure for us evidence of fossil Lemurs. The à priori analogy in favour of their existence in the tertiary strata rests upon the fact that they are zoologically inferior to the true monkeys, and consequently more likely to have existed previously to them.
The fossil monkeys of the New World are all of one geological age, the later pliocene. They are, moreover, analogous to the existing Platyrrhine monkeys of Brazil, thus proving that the physiological division of true monkeys into Catarrhine and Platyrrhine existed so long ago as the Pliocene age. We find no Platyrrhine monkeys in the Old; no Catarrhine in the New World. The Protopithecus Brasiliensis discovered by Dr. Lund in limestone caverns in Brazil, offers the nearest analogy to the howler monkeys (Mycetes) which are still found in the same locality. The Sapajou (Cebus macrognathus), the Sagouin (Callithrix primævus), and the little Ouistiti (Jacchus grandis), are all Brazilian forms. No Transmutationist will assert the probable, or even possible, derivation of American types of men from the Platyrrliine monkeys.
Turning to the Old World, the earliest and one of the most interesting forms of fossil monkey has been discovered in the Eocene sand, at Kyson in Suffolk. It is the Eopithecus Colchesteri of Owen. Its nearest living analogue, the Macacus rhesus, is found on the banks of the Ganges. The Macacine form of monkey reappears in the pliocene beds at Grays, Essex, again reproducing a Bengal form, the Bonnet Chinois monkey (Macacus Sinicus). The older pliocene or newer miocene beds of the Sewalik, or Sub-Himalayan range, produce two species of Semnopithecus not generally distinct from those of the present day. A third Semnopithecus is found in the pliocene sands at Montpellier. In the miocene beds of Pikermi, at the foot of Pentelicon, in Greece, are to be found the remains of two species of Mesopithecus, a genus which Professor Wagner considers as intermediate between Hylobates and Semnopithecus; but Professor Owen has pointed out that the third lobe of the last molar is as well developed in Mesopithecus as in Semnopithecus.
Hitherto we have only had to deal with tailed monkeys, mostly of small dimensions, and not differing much in type from those of the present day. Evidence has however been afforded to us of the occurrence of two forms of fossil Gibbons (Pliopithecus and Dryopithecus), one of which has been regarded by more than one distinguished naturalist as approaching nearer to the human type than even the Gorilla. The illustrious Sir Charles Lyell has stated "that in anatomical structure, as well as in stature, the Dryopithecus came nearer to man than any quadrumanous species, living or fossil, before known to zoologists." Professor Owen's examination however of the plates figured in M. Lartet's memoir[1] has led him to a very different conclusion.
Stress has been laid upon the inferior size of the canine in Dryopithecus, compared with the Chimpanzees, Gorillas, and Orangs, as indicating its affinity to man; but the inferior monkeys also often exhibit this character, and "it is by no means to be trusted as significant of true affinity, even supposing the sex of the fossil to be known as being male."[2]
The characters in which Dryopitliecus approaches to the lower form Hylobates are,—the cylindric form of the humerus; the verticality of the forepart of the jaw; the shape of the forepart of the coronoid process, slightly convex forwards, causing the angle which it forms with the alveolar border to be less open than in Man, the Gorilla, and Chimpanzee, and the mode in which the molar teeth are developed. Professor Owen sums up by stating,—"There is no law of correlation, by which, from the portion of jaw with teeth of the Dryopithecus, can be deduced the shape of the nasal bones and orbits, the position and plane of the occipital foramen, the presence of mastoid and vaginal processes, or any other cranial characters determinative of affinity to Man; much less any ground for inferring the proportions of the upper to the lower limbs, of the humerus to the ulna, of the pollux to the manus, or the shape and development of the iliac bones. All those characters which do determine the closer resemblance and affinity of the genus Troglodytes to Man, and of the genus Hylobates to the tailed monkeys, are at present unknown in respect of the Dryopithecus."
As regards Pliopithecus, no doubts can exist as to its affinity with Hylobates.
We have thus amongst the fossil species of Simiadæ no form sufficiently allied to Man to have served as his ancestor; no form which approaches so near to him as the Gorilla or Chimpanzee.
The theory which would identify man as the descendant of any of these existing species has been often and satisfactorily disproved.
The analogy of the genesis of the whole human race to the genesis of each particular individual is obvious. Knowledge is denied to each of us how we came, from what we came, whence we came, whither we go. The feeble and obscure light of analogy seems to indicate an origin analogous to that of all animals—the cell. Through 
PLIOPITHECUS ANTIQUUS.
[From M. Lartet's Original Figures.]
(Scale 12 linear.)
But the mind of the palæontologist, still aiming at a solution, re- calls the hideous ape-like character of the Neanderthal man, and strives to divest himself of the idea that this frightful being belonged to the same race as himself. Demonstration is lacking of the mode by which even so low and degraded a type could have been derived from the apes. Whether demonstration will ever afford us such a solution is the object towards which Anthropologists, Zoologists, and Geologists are directing their best endeavours,—with what success remains to be seen.
Geographical Description of Fossil Monkeys.
| Strata. | Europe. | Asia. | America. | Africa. | Australia. |
| Pleistocene:— | |||||
Historical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
Man | Man and Orangs. |
Man | Man and Chimpanzees. |
Man |
Prehistorical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
Man | Man? | No fossil monkeys yet discovered.
|
No fossil monkeys yet discovered.
| |
Pliocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
Macacus Semnopithecus |
Protopithecus Cebus Callithrix Jacchus | |||
Miocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
Dryopithecus Pliopithecus Mezopithecus |
Semnopithecus | |||
Eocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
Eopithecus |
When we view the skeleton of man, when we trace the points of difference between his form and that of the anthropoid apes, we are struck with the "all-pervading" unity of plan and "similitude of structure,—every tooth, every bone strictly homologous,"—which is presented by these organs throughout their diversified adaptations. We can trace out in both the human jaw and that of the ape the same canine tooth: e.g. as the modified representative and homologue of the canine in Hyænodon, now subserving its duty in the gorilla as an almost carnassial laniary, now dwarfed in man into the semblance merely of a more conical incisor. In each bone of the metacarpals and metatarsals of Homo is seen a repetition of the same structure in Troglodytes. Few but those who have studied the subject with the anxiety of the practised observer, can appreciate the pleasure with which the morphological student detects in the gorilla skull a structure, however trivial, which he has also found in man, even when he recognizes such an organ as the styloid process of the temporal in man in the angular termination of that "ridge which extends from the ectopterygoid along the inner border of the foramen ovale in the Gorilla," such "styloid" being absent in the Chimpanzees, Orangs, and Gibbons, and probably in the fossil Dryopithecus. In every structure that shows on the part of the lower forms of man an approach, either in degree or in kind, with a similar structure in the higher Quadrumana, the disciple of unity of descent finds a basis for his arguments; whilst he who abides, and may be working out, a demonstration of the mode of origin of species, accepting the evidence of their origin by law, and the maintainer of the faith in special creation, gives due weight to, and watches for the distinctions which limit the sub-class Archencephala.