of the kind of thing I mean,” he said.
The picture of the fish skeleton vanished and was replaced by one
of a massive, hornless, rhinoceroslike creature. In the background
stood an enormous opened canister from which the animal had
presumably been removed. The canister was lying in front of what
looked like a wall of ice, surrounded by cables, chains, and parts
of a latticework built of metal struts.
“The Baluchitherium, gentlemen,” Danchekker informed them, “or
something so like it that the difference escapes me. This animal
stood eighteen feet high at the shoulder and attained a bulk in
excess of that of the elephant. It is a good example of the
titanotheres, or titanic beasts, that were abundant in the Americas
during the Oligocene but which died out fairly rapidly soon
afterward.”
“Are you saying that baby was alive when the ship ditched?”
Caldwell asked in a tone of disbelief.
Danchekker shook his head. “Not this particular one. As you can
see, it has come to us in practically as good a condition as when
it was alive. It was taken from that container in the background,
in which it had been packed and preserved to keep for a long time.
Fortunately, whoever packed it was an expert. However, as I said
earlier, there were cages and pens in the ship that originally held
live specimens, but by the time they were discovered they had
deteriorated to skeleton condition, as had the crew. There were six
of this particular species in the pens.”
The professor changed the picture to show a small quadruped with
spindly legs.
“Mesohippus-ancestor of the modern horse. About the size of a
collie dog and walking on a three-toed foot with the center toe
highly elongated, clearly foreshadowing the single-toed horse of
today. There is a long list of other examples such as these, every
one immediately recognizable to any student of early terrestrial
life forms.”
Speechless, Hunt and Caldwell continued to watch as the view
changed once more. This time it showed something that at first
sight suggested a medium-sized ape from the gibbon or chimpanzee
family. Closer examination, however, revealed differences that set
it apart from the general category of ape. The skull construction
was lighter, especially in the area of the lower jaw, where the
chin had receded back to fall almost below the tip of the nose. The
arms were proportionately somewhat on the short side for an ape,
the chest broader and flatter, and the legs longer and straighter.
Also, the opposability of the big toe had gone.
Dancbekker allowed plenty of time for these points to register
before continuing with his commentary.
“Clearly, the creature you now see before you belongs to the
general anthropoid line that includes both man and the great apes.
Now, remember, this specimen dates from around the early Mbcene
period. The most advanced anthropoid fossil from around that time
so far found on Earth was discovered during the last century in
East Africa and is known as Proconsul. Proconsul is generally
accepted as representing a step forward from anything that had gone
before, but he is definitely an ape. Here, on the other hand, we
have a creature from the same period in time, but with distinctly
more pronounced humanlike characteristics than Proconsul. In my
opinion, this is an example of something that oc
cupies a position corresponding to that of Proconsul, but on the
other side of the split that occurred when man and ape went their
own separate ways-in other words, a direct ancestor to the human
line!” Danchekker concluded with a verbal flourish and gazed at the
other two men expectantly. Caldwell stared back with widening eyes,
and his jaw dropped as impossible thoughts raced through his mind.
“Are you telling . . . that the Charlie guys could have . from
that?”
“Yes!” Danchekker snapped off the screen and swung back to face
them triumphantly. “Established evolutionary theory is as sound as
I’ve insisted all along. The notion that the Lunarians might have
been colonists from Earth turns out indeed to be true, but not in
the sense that was intended. There are no traces of their
civilization to be found on Earth, because it never existed on