THE MYSTERY OF THE «TAUNG CHILD»: How Childhood Emerged in Humans

The face and lower jaw of an Australopithecus africanus specimen, the so-called Taung Child, dated to 2.1 million years ago, discovered in South Africa / wikipedia.org

Every person has a childhood. Each of us was once a child. But it turns out that long ago, our ancestors lived in a world where what we are used to calling «childhood» simply did not exist. And it was a mysterious skull, discovered by a scientist during his own wedding a hundred years ago, that helped reveal this. Since then, this discovery has continued to reshape our understanding of human evolution.

BONES — THE BEST WEDDING GIFT!

The «Taung Child» is one of the most famous fossils in the scientific world. It was the first discovered remains of an australopithecine — a young individual who lived on Earth around 2.58 million years ago. The skull was found under quite unusual circumstances in 1924 by Australian anatomist Raymond Dart.

That day, Raymond and his fiancée Dora were celebrating their wedding at their home in Johannesburg. In the midst of the festivities, they received two large boxes filled with fossilized bones. Dart had been expecting them for a while, but Dora asked him not to «ruin the wedding» and to open them once the guests had left. When the «wedding gift» was finally unpacked, it fundamentally changed the scientific understanding of human evolution.

All previously discovered fossil remains resembled modern humans. But the «Taung Child» looked like both an ape and a human! Dart named this mysterious hominid Australopithecus africanus — «southern ape from Africa». The find became the first concrete evidence supporting Charles Darwin’s theory on human origins.

Before Dart’s discovery, Asia was considered the cradle of humankind. But the «Taung Child» proved that apes and humans had a common ancestor — and that humanity began in Africa. Moreover, it provided the earliest evidence of bipedalism — walking upright on two legs. This was indicated by the position of the foramen magnum, the hole at the base of the skull through which the spinal cord connects to the brain.

Dart’s report was published in Nature on February 7, 1925. But it took 25 long years before it gained widespread acceptance.

«THE CRADLE OF HUMANKIND»

This discovery was ahead of its time, as its implications couldn’t be logically reconciled with the prevailing ideas of that era. Similar situations have occurred throughout the history of science — just think of the laws of genetics or the discovery of penicillin. Yet even today — a century later — the «Taung Child» continues to raise questions about human evolution.

Science and technology have not stood still. They now explore aspects of fossils that Dart couldn’t have known about, as well as details he had misinterpreted. Newspapers around the world eagerly reported Dart’s find, and he became famous overnight. But before scientists began to accept his controversial ideas about human evolution, numerous other australopithecine fossils had to be discovered.

Most of these finds were made 70 km southwest of Pretoria, in South Africa’s Sterkfontein, which is now considered the «Cradle of Humankind» and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, in the 1920s, scientists had no knowledge of this.

Their caution was understandable, especially considering that the famous «Piltdown Man», which some members of the Royal Society of London at the time believed to be the earliest human ancestor, was later exposed as an outright hoax — only in 1953.

A «CHILD» WHO NEVER HAD A CHILDHOOD

Dart’s ideas were ultimately accepted and, for the most part, remain relevant to this day. However, in the mid-1920s, it was nearly impossible to compare the postnatal development of humans and other apes — during infancy and other stages of the life cycle. Dart had no access to modern dating and imaging technologies that now allow scientists to examine fossilized bones from the inside.

Over time, however, the fossil record of juvenile hominins began to grow. Today, we know that the «Taung Child» was around 3.8 years old at the time of death and that their brain was nearly adult-sized, with a level of developmental maturity exceeding that of a human of the same age. Scientists also tend to believe that the «Taung Child» was female, as female australopithecines typically had smaller skulls than males. The cranial capacity of the specimen is about 405 cubic centimeters — not the largest among australopithecines.

Interest in the «Taung Child» is far from trivial. It is driven not only by the desire to learn more about human evolution but also by the quest to answer questions such as: when, why, and how did the unique stage of the life cycle known as childhood emerge? What kinds of changes — in brain size, for example — accompanied its development?

We know that most infant monkeys are able to actively cling to their mothers’ bodies just a few months after birth. Human infants, on the other hand, mature more slowly and remain dependent on their parents or caregivers for a much longer period. Most monkeys do not experience childhood — that is, a stage in which young individuals, after being weaned, continue to receive care from older group members.

CHILDHOOD — A UNIQUELY HUMAN «FEATURE»

In her analysis of the milk teeth and first permanent molars of the «Taung Child», anthropologist Holly Smith concluded that australopithecine infants developed at an ape-like, rather than human, pace. At 3.8 years old, the «Taung Child» was well adapted to eating solid «adult» food, though it’s possible she still received minimal care from older individuals.

The nature of the injuries on the «Taung Child’s» skull suggests that she was killed — and possibly eaten — by an eagle. In any case, she did not have a childhood in the human sense. She was not a «child» in the strict scientific meaning of the term and, once weaned, did not survive for long.

Childhood is likely one of the most significant innovations of human evolution. It allows offspring to absorb far more knowledge and experience from adults than would be possible under the «ape model». The emergence of an extended period of human infant «helplessness» created the necessary conditions for cognitive evolution.

At first glance, it may seem strange that australopithecines developed at an ape-like pace, even though they were human-like in walking upright. But unlike later hominins, they still spent much of their time in trees — and most likely, like other apes, they slept there as well.

The prerequisites for delayed maturation and the emergence of childhood appeared only after australopithecine descendants fully transitioned to life on the ground and lost many of their arboreal adaptations. Evolutionary changes slowed down and complicated the development of the nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems, likely repurposing much of the anatomy that had previously served as a tree-dwelling movement.

«TAUNG» — A BRAVE LITTLE GIRL IN A DANGEROUS WORLD!

Scientists believe that the childhood stage, which australopithecines lacked, emerged only with Homo erectus — along with increases in body size, brain volume, and cognitive capacity. However, in a 1.77-million-year-old Homo erectus specimen discovered in the Georgian village of Dmanisi, the rate of tooth growth is similar to that seen in both the «Taung Child» and modern great apes.

Brain size is also comparable, but the development of the rear molars was delayed — as it is in modern humans. This suggests that childhood may have emerged long before the large human brain evolved. Some features of the venous drainage system in the skull and brain of the «Taung Child» indicate that this australopithecine infant walked upright, just like an adult.

Apparently, australopithecines did not experience prolonged close contact with protectors, as seen in the childhood of modern humans. The mother paid less and less attention to her offspring. The young individual could wander farther away, spend more time on the ground, and face increasing exposure to predators. This risk may have become one of the selective pressures that led to the emergence of protected childhood in early Homo.

But in the case of the unfortunate young one who died in the talons of a predatory bird, that protective factor had not yet evolved. The «Taung Child» was not yet a «little human». But she was no longer a «little ape», either. She was a 3.8-year-old australopithecine girl, weaned and sent off on a dangerous, independent journey.

Original research: