Early Forerunners of Man: a Morphological Study of the Evolutionary Origin of the Primates

Abstract

NON-COMMITTAL though it may be, the very title of Prof. Le Gros dark's book excites curiosity. Forerunners are not necessarily ancestors; and in fact these pages introduce animals which stand in varying relation to the true line of human descent. It must not be supposed that the author avoids discussion of that subject. The preface is perfectly explicit in this matter, and ancestral trees, though not unduly prominent, figure clearly enough towards the end of the volume. But a wider issue is submitted, namely that of the evolutionary history, not of man alone, but of his associates as well. The clear statement of this aim, and the steadfastness which ensures its maintenance throughout the inquiry, are the essential factors of the book's outstanding merit.

Early Forerunners of Man: a Morphological Study of the Evolutionary Origin of the Primates.

By Prof. W. E. Le Gros Clark. Pp. xvi + 296. (London: Baillière, Tindall and Cox, 1934.) 15s.