 |
Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 |
|
| 
|
Initial bipedalism!
Our anomaly-collecting net has pulled in an interesting catch; namely, CERBI (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur la Bipedie Intiale). This Center, operated by F. de Sarre, publishes a little journal called Bipedia. In the first issue of Bipedia, de Sarre sets out, in English, his basic thesis:
Abstract.
"The explanation of Man's special nature is to be sought in the original combination formed by a primordial brain, the globular form of the skull and initial bipedalism. The ape, when compared with Man, appears to be rather a vestige of Man's ancestral line than his predecessor, according to the views of Max Westenhofer, Serge Frechkop, Klaas de Snoo and Bernard Heuvelmans. The study of the human morphology allows logically to carry the problem of Man's origin back to a very early stage of the evolution, and not to which has been reached by apes. From chromosomal and DNA comparison in the cells of living apes and people, several researches argue to-day that humans are genetically more like the common ancestor than is either Chimpanzees or other apes. The array of facts and considerations should be sufficient for an unbiased mind to discount away any idea of simian antecedents in Man's ascent."
The body of the article supports de Sarre's thesis with observations from embryogenesis, comparative anatomy (skull, hand, foot), and phylogenesis.
(de Sarre, Francois; "Initial Bipedalism: An Inquiry into Zoological Evidence," Bipedia, 1:3, September 1988.)
Comment. Obviously, de Sarre is taking an extreme position, and any observations supporting his position are anomalous by definition.