The face, hands, and feet have
mainly lost the covering of hair. They have no tail, or rather its
rudiments are concealed beneath the skin. These include the gibbon,
the orang, the gorilla, and the chimpanzee.
We can sum up the few attainments of mammals in a line. The lower
forms attained the placental mode of embryonic development; the
higher attained upright gait, hands and feet, and a great increase
of brain. Anatomically considered these were but trifles, but the
addition of these trifles revolutionized life on the globe. The
principal anatomical differences between man and the anthropoid ape
are the following: Man is a strictly erect animal. The foot of the
ape is less fitted for walking on the ground, where he usually "goes
on all fours." The skull is almost balanced on the condyles by which
it articulates with the neck, and has but slight tendency to tip
forward. The facial portion, nose and jaws, is less developed and
retracted beneath the larger cranium or brain-case. This has greatly
changed the appearance of the head. Protruding jaws and chin, even
when combined with large cranium and brain, always give man the
appearance of brutality and low intelligence.
The pelvis is broad and comparatively shallow. The legs, especially
the thighs, are long. The foot is long and strong, and rests its
lower surface, not merely the outer margin as in apes, on the
ground.
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