Raymond Dart and the Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus)
In 1924 Raymond Dart was presented with a tiny fossilized face from a limestone quarry in Taung, South Africa. Dart named the tiny skull Australopithecus africanus. It is better known as the “Taung Child.” In an article for Nature magazine, Dart suggested that Australopithecus africanus was an extinct ape living between anthropoids and man.54 Most evolutionists believe the Australopithecus africanus is slightly younger than the afarensis at 2.8 million years old (refer to chart on page 52). Dart’s find is also considered to be of great value to evolutionary theory because of the position of the foramen magnum. The foramen magnum is the small hole at the base of the skull where the spine connects to the head. Evolutionists use it as an indicator of posture. For example, if the foramen magnum is at central base of the skull, evolutionists see that as evidence that the creature walked upright. If it is positioned toward the back of the skull, it indicates that the posture of the creature was slouched. According to Raymond Dart the impression of the foramen magnum in the Taung fossil is very close to the central base of the skull. Therefore, Dart proclaimed that his creature walked upright.

Are there also problems with Dart’s discovery? Again, the answer is “yes.” Once again the name is an admission. Australopithecus africanus simply means “Southern African ape.” Dart did not have the courage to call it an archaic human ancestor because the evidence did not support such a designation. Additionally, even the evolutionists have bickered over whether or not Australopithecus africanus is a human ancestor. Sir Arthur Keith, an expert anatomist and evolutionist, after analyzing the Taung skull, wrote in Nature magazine:

[Dart’s] claim is preposterous. The skull is that of a young anthropoid ape...and showing so many points of affinity with the two living Africa anthropoids, the gorilla and chimpanzee, that there cannot be a moment’s hesitation in placing the fossil form in this living group.55

Even the integrity and scholarship of Raymond Dart was called into question by his colleagues. Donald Johanson and James Shreeve described Raymond Dart as “over enthusiastic for speculation.”56 Unfortunately, this is a trademark of every evolutionist’s character. It takes an incredible gap in reason and an “over enthusiastic” urge to speculate in order for one to conclude that the Taung child is a human ancestor.

Finally, the impression of the foramen magnum in the Taung skull is not as clear as Dart would have everyone to believe. In fact, many paleoanthropologists who have closely examined the skull cannot even find the foramen magnum depression that Dart bragged about. Furthermore, the foramen magnum is an unreliable means in determining the posture of a creature. Its position on the skull varies in both humans and apes. Other anatomical evidence from Australopithecus africanus remains indicates that he did not walk upright. The Taung child (Australopithecus africanus) is nothing more than what it looks like — an ape. Any other conclusion would be nothing more than unfounded speculation!