C. W. Bennett an Ernst Haeckel, Coldwater, 1. Oktober 1908
C. W. BENNETT,
PROPRIETOR.
ESTABLISHED IN 1870.
BENNETT’S
NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIN AGENCY
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN, U. S. Am.
October 1, 1908.
Prof. Ernst Haeckel,
Jena, Germany.
Honored Sir: –
Though a total stranger to you I am a great admirer of your works, and so I hope you will pardon me for addressing you, as I wish to call your attention to a new theory, (new to me at least, as you do not mention it), namely: that ALL OF THE ANCESTORS OF MAN, expect the last two, ORIGINATED IN NORTH AMERICA.
I have all your late works in my library, and have just written a paper on the evolution of man to be read before a local society, getting the most of my data from the Fifth English edition (1905), of your „Evolution of Man,“ – following Tables 26 and 27 on pages 550, 551.
You say on page 608, „We may conclude from this that the stem form of the primates, which we must regard as the earliest Lemurs, were evolved direct from the opossum.“ You locate the lemurs in „Lemuria“; then have them evolve into the Dysmopitheca, and these into Cynopitheca, Anthropoides, Pithecanthropi, and Homines. The latter apes you suggest were evolved in Southern Asia. But you omit to explain how the American Opossum got to Lemuria, how the Lemurs got back to America to evolve the American Apes, and then how these got tot he Eastern World again.
So I began investigating the history of the Lemurs. The Riverside Natural History, (1888), Vol. V., page 481, says, „Prof. Haeckel uses the latter noun, (Lemuria) in a new sense as the name of the continent which he supposes to have been the center of distribution of the lemuroid ancestors of the higher orders of Mammalia, and part of which has persisted as Madagascor with its remarkable fauna. Paleontological discoveries (by Marsh and Cope) have, however, shown that America can so far lay as good a claim to having seen the original home of the lemuroids, for, not only do the earliest remains of lemur-like animals come from American Tertiary strata, (in Wyomung [!] especially), but even forms have been found which assist the anatomist in bridging over the gap between the lemuroids and anthropoid Primates.“
The Century Dictionary (1889) makes similar claim that North America is the original home of the Lemurs. The „International Cyclopedia“ (1903) says in reference to the hypothesis of the continent of Lemuria, „The more recent evidences from paleontology that the earliest lemurs inhabited America destroys both the logical basis of, and a need for, such a hypothesis.“ Chamberlin’s Geology, (1905), and Scott’s Geology, (1907), both state that the fossils of Lemurs are abundant in central North America, especially in Wyoming, appearing in the strate of the early Eocene. Prof. T. C. Chamberlin suggests that they may have originated in the north-||eastern part of the continent where the land was stable all thru the Cretaceous Period, (and hence made no fossil records), and then spread to the west and got involved in the strata-forming waters of the Eocene, where their fossils are now found. North America is the oldest continent; the Angiosperms originated in its eastern part during an earlier period, and then spread over all the earth.
Now on page 592 you say the Stegocephala was in the line of ascent, and as you quote Cope, and its fossils are abundent in North America, no doubt you will concede it was an American product. On page 598 you mention Dromatherius as in the North American Triassic. On page 608 you say the earliest Monotremes are found in America as well as in other continents; and on Page 608 you name the Opossum as in the line of ascent.
With these evidences in North American origins, it seems logical to claim that the Opossum evolved into the Lemurs here in North America; then the Lemurs to the Dysmopitheca, and these to the Cynopitheca, – all in North America. Then, during the Miocene Epoch, when North America was connected with Asia via. Alaska-Siberia, and with Europe via. Greenland, etc.; when the horse, camel, rhinoceros and dog families, all of which originated in North America, migrated to the Eastern World, (and the Mastodon, Mammoth and Elephant migrated to the Western World), the Lemurs and Cynopithecas also migrated to the Eastern World. After arriving there the Cynopithecas evolved into the Anthropoids, and these into Pithecanthropi, etc.
The Lemurs and Cynopithecas survived in the regions where they are now found because, perhaps, less troubled by large carnivora, and for other favorable reasons. They both became extinct in North America, as also did the Dysmopitheca, probabaly from the same causes that extinquished the horse, camel, dog, etc., from this continent.
Another thought. It seems to me the trees are a very unnatural habitat for beasts; – they must have been driven to them for safety. Now I know of no carnivors large enough to be terrors to the Opossum and Lemurs in they existed near „Lemuria“ during the Cretaceous Period and Eocene Epoch. But in North America, especially in the central west, the great Saurians were abundant so that no small beasts could exist near them only by burrowing the ground, or living in the trees. The Dysmopitheca and Cynopitheca followed the habits formed by their ancestral lemurs and opossums, and partly because in their ages larger carnivors had developed.
I immagine that the higher apes and man lived less in trees; 1st, because they were too heavy to be good tree-climbers; 2nd, they had developed hands which enabled them to use clubs for defence; 3rd, perhaps in their ages and locations the large carnivors were not numerous.
Thus, with the valued evidences you have named, and with later knowledge discovered by the geologists, it seems to me the proofs are very strong that all of the firsta Twenty-seven ancestors of Man that you name originated in North America, – the succeeding two in Asia.
I can hardly hope for a reply from you, but as one of your pupils I hope you will pardon my writing this letter, and accept my highest regards and best wishes.
Chad. W. Bennett.
Member of Am. Ass’n. for Advancement of Science;
" ̎ Michigan Academy of Science.
a korr. aus: forst