On a Paleontological Definition of the Genus Homo

概要

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When discussing the problems connected with the origin of man one frequent source of confusion is the vagueness or ambiguity of the very concept of "man". This difficulty was clearly spelled out almost ten years ago by Le Gros Clark (1955) in his authoritative review of The Fossil Evidence for Human Evolution. Recent discoveries at Olduvai Gorge (Tanganyika) and the interpretation given to them (Leakey, Tobias & Napier: 1964) show that the problem of defining the genus Homo is not solved yet and lies at the heart of much anthropological thinking. The present communication constitutes an attempt at defining the genus Homo in a somewhat unusual way, namely by paying special attention to the evolutionary pattern believed to be proper to this genus. The central concepts of the following discussion, divergent and convergent evolution, are derived from the work of Teilhard de Chardin (1956) who however, to the writer's knowledge, did not refer to their possible import for hominid taxonomy. The purpose of this communication is thus to formulate a working definition of the genus Homo, allowing the student of human evolution, the paleontologist in particular, to identify the time and the place of origin of this genus.
科学基礎論学会の論文
1965-03-26