Dubois, Eugene (1858–1940)

Contributions and Perspectives

From 1891 to 1892, Dubois discovered a deposit of fossil bones at Trinil. In the strata that would date to the Pleistocene, the lapilli layer would yield a third molar (second molar found in October 1892), cranium, and a left femur. Besides the hominid evidence, other fossil remains of extinct creatures were recovered, among them being Stegodon, Bos elephas,rhinoceros, sus, felis, and hyena. Viewing the evidence as a whole, a picture of a bygone time emerged through the rock strata. Among the hominid fossil bones that were recovered, the interpretation of the thighbone and cranium led him to conclude that the specimen was an intermediate form between man and ape. Although he first referred to this new find as Anthropithecus erectus,he later renamed this hominid form as Pithecanthropus erectus.

Characteristically, Dubois (1896) assessed that the femur possessed both human and simian-like qualities. The differences between a human femur and that of Pithecanthropus erectus involved the following characteristics: increased rounded form of the inner side of the shaft, a round convex popliteal area, and more simian-like trochanteric line. Although the femur does have humanlike characteristics, Dubois asserted that the evidence must be evaluated in its entirety, including the other simian-like (perhaps a giant gibbon form) fossil bones that were discovered along with the femur. The calveria is measured at 185 mm(length) and 130 mm (breadth). According to Dubois, the skull is also simian in character. The cranial capacity is estimated at being around 1,000 cc, receding forehead, torus occipitals, and the pronouncement of the frontal bone's orbital indicates a marked difference from human. Although similar to other anthropoid apes and some human characteristics (e.g., cranial capacity), Dubois continued to maintain that Pithecanthropus erectus was not a microcephalic idiot as some claimed, but a distinct and extinct hominid form between humankind and ape, an intermediate form that has Hylobatoid characteristics and is close to the genus Homo. The exact relationship and interpretation concerning the evidence was the center for agitated discussions, only to resurface with other hominid finds.

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