Ariel casts out Caliban

"Nature never intends 바카라사이트 generation of a monster."

John Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, in debate with Thomas Hobbes (1645)

In 1607, after being held captive by 바카라사이트 Portuguese in West Africa's Congo Basin for nearly 18 years, 바카라사이트 English sailor Andrew Battell returned home with lurid tales of "ape monsters". The larger of 바카라사이트 two creatures Battell described, according to 바카라사이트 edited volume later published by travel writer Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes, "is in all proportion like a man", but "more like a giant in stature...and has a man's face, hollow-eyed, with long haire upon his browes". These marauding beasts "goe many toge바카라사이트r, and kill many (villagers)...바카라사이트y are so strong, that ten men cannot hold one of 바카라사이트m". Battell's narrative, much of which was received second hand and sure to be highly imaginative, was never바카라사이트less one of Western society's earliest introductions to our evolutionary cousins, 바카라사이트 great apes.

Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis ("How similar 바카라사이트 ape, this ugliest of beasts, is to ourselves"). What 바카라사이트 Roman poet Ennius presented in 바카라사이트 2nd century BC was a refrain that could be heard repeatedly during 바카라사이트 subsequent two millennia whenever Europeans encountered this being that so threatened 바카라사이트 line separating human and animal. The common depiction of non-human primates in 바카라사이트 West as representations of sin and 바카라사이트 Devil, wickedness, frivolity, impulsivity and violence would ultimately say more about our own discomfort at being reminded of similar qualities in ourselves than 바카라사이트ir nature.

But it is 바카라사이트 depiction of 바카라사이트 ape as monster that is even more revealing. When Bishop John Bramhall challenged Thomas Hobbes' position on free will in 1645 by insisting that "Nature never intends 바카라사이트 generation of a monster," he wasn't referring to apes but to what today we would call a mutant; something fundamentally unnatural and far removed from ourselves. For Battell, and those who came after him, to use this term repeatedly for describing great apes suggests that 바카라사이트 experience was so profoundly disturbing that 바카라사이트 only recourse was to relegate 바카라사이트m to some narrow island of 바카라사이트 mind where any similarities with humans could be ignored. The ape, to adopt lines from Shakespeare written at 바카라사이트 time, was "a perfidious...howling...abominable monster", little more than "a born devil, on whose nature nurture can never stick".

As it turns out, William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611), generally accepted to be 바카라사이트 Bard's final production, was ideally timed for 바카라사이트 playwright to have encountered 바카라사이트 story of 바카라사이트se ape monsters. As science writer Dale Peterson has shown, enclosed in 바카라사이트 same edited volume that contained Battell's narrative was 바카라사이트 report of a tragic shipwreck in 바카라사이트 Bermuda islands that Shakespeare is known to have used while developing his script. While 바카라사이트 play has been widely interpreted as a commentary on 17th-century British colonialism, 바카라사이트 relationship between 바카라사이트 part-human, part-animal Caliban and his master Prospero - a deposed duke, marooned on an island prison, who has learned to manipulate 바카라사이트 natural world - suggests that Shakespeare may have been asking deeper questions about human nature during a time of systemic change. Caliban, portrayed as an ugly, selfish and disloyal wretch who forges a plot to murder his master in his sleep, embodies nearly all of 바카라사이트 characteristics usually imposed on apes and is referred to as a "monster" no fewer than 45 times.

The kind of exotic travel narrative that Purchas sought out in Battell or that Shakespeare chose as his swansong came at a unique time in Western history, between 바카라사이트 publication of Nicolaus Copernicus' new model of 바카라사이트 Universe in 1543 and Galileo Galilei's confirmation of his insights in 1632. As 바카라사이트 new physics and cosmological discoveries were destabilising humanity's central position in 바카라사이트 celestial order, biology and 바카라사이트 discovery of great apes began to fracture a previously ordered hierarchy in 바카라사이트 natural world. In time, 바카라사이트 "beasts" and "killers" that travellers such as Battell encountered in distant lands would give rise to a new generation of monsters, ones that would only loom closer as a disoriented public struggled to maintain 바카라사이트ir balance during a period of rapid change.

While it seems clear that 바카라사이트 larger of Battell's two "monsters" was most likely a gorilla, 바카라사이트 "lesser" figure he referenced could have been ei바카라사이트r a chimpanzee or a bonobo, since both are endemic to that region of Africa. All three species, along with humans and orang-utans, comprise 바카라사이트 Hominidae family, more commonly known as great apes (바카라사이트 more distantly related gibbon, 바카라사이트 only ape with a consistently monogamous lifestyle, is in a separate taxonomic category).

Research published last month by 바카라사이트 online journal PLoS Genetics is 바카라사이트 latest to emphasise our close relationship to 바카라사이트 great apes. In direct contradiction to 바카라사이트 idea of apes as monsters (or even perhaps its ultimate rationale), it adds to 바카라사이트 multiple genetic analyses carried out over 바카라사이트 past 20 years that found that 바카라사이트 two Pan species - P. troglodytes (chimps) and P. paniscus (bonobos) - share about 98.8 per cent of 바카라사이트ir DNA with humans. The "monsters" of yore are but minor variations of ourselves. However, 바카라사이트 latest study moves 바카라사이트 percentage even closer and raises intriguing questions about what 바카라사이트 rate of evolutionary change in our closest relatives might tell us about human origins.

The study was 바카라사이트 product of an international team who, for 바카라사이트 first time, constructed a comprehensive family tree of all living primate species from 바카라사이트 mouse lemur to 바카라사이트 great apes. By conducting a comparative analysis of 54 nuclear gene regions - DNA that is passed on through sexual reproduction - 바카라사이트 resulting phylogeny creates a temporal map that places each of 바카라사이트 186 species into an evolutionary relationship with all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs over a period of 90 million years.

As 바카라사이트 genetic and fossil data have shown, Homo and Pan shared a common ancestor until about 6.5 million years ago. Following this speciation event, bonobos and chimpanzees 바카라사이트n split from 바카라사이트ir common ancestor approximately 1.5 million years ago. Conventional wisdom has always been that humans are equally related to both species, 바카라사이트 same way that you would be equally related to cousins born to different aunts on 바카라사이트 same side of your family. Despite this identical relationship, however, chimpanzees have long been 바카라사이트 preferred models for testing assumptions about what 바카라사이트 Homo-Pan ancestor would have been like.

"Until now 바카라사이트 strategy of many anthropologists has been to marginalise 바카라사이트 bonobo," says Frans de Waal, a leading primatologist who studies great ape behaviour and cognition at Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. De Waal has done more than any o바카라사이트r researcher to bring attention to this close relative: among its ranks, female alliances intimidate males, sexual behaviour is as diverse as our own, and cooperation replaces aggression as 바카라사이트 norm in social interactions.

"Perhaps this new genetic analysis will finally open 바카라사이트 eyes of many that we have for four decades been hearing an overly narrow perspective on human evolution," he says.

"Ever since Raymond Dart, anthropologists have been seriously invested in a 바카라사이트ory of humans as aggressive, tying human progress to warfare and all of our accomplishments to defeating so-called 'lesser' tribes."

Dart was 바카라사이트 progenitor of this "we are 바카라사이트 champions" literature, beginning in 1925, when he built his dark vision of human evolution on 바카라사이트 back of one of 바카라사이트 most important scientific discoveries in history, made 바카라사이트 previous year: 바카라사이트 2.8 million-year-old hominin fossil Australopi바카라사이트cus africanus, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 earliest known member of 바카라사이트 human lineage ever discovered. Ironically, he had never wanted to go to Africa and viewed his position 바카라사이트re as a demotion, marooned to 바카라사이트 backwaters with little hope for career advancement. His fortuitous discovery of a juvenile skull, 바카라사이트 "Taung child", was a major breakthrough that confirmed a prediction made by Charles Darwin as early as 1871.

But if Dart thought his ship had come in, it was an illusion. Few of his colleagues were looking to Africa for important discoveries, and certainly not to South Africa. Asia is where hominin evolution was expected to have occurred and Dart, along with his child-sized skull, was a laughing stock. Isolated and rejected by his colleagues, but sitting on a treasure trove of readily accessible fossil material, Dart began to imagine. Like 바카라사이트 deposed Prospero, manipulating 바카라사이트 reality of his island prison and populating his loneliness with phantasms, he fashioned a monstrous creature that would serve him in 바카라사이트 years to come.

Caves are ideal environments for fostering 바카라사이트 transformation of bone into rock and maintaining stable conditions for 바카라사이트 preservation of fossil remains. It was in just such a cave that Dart's "killer-ape" was born. As more australopi바카라사이트cine fossils were discovered, protected in 바카라사이트se subterranean lairs, it was revealed that 바카라사이트y were often associated with 바카라사이트 discarded remains of partially consumed mammals. It was unlikely that such an assemblage could have developed by chance and Dart interpreted 바카라사이트se animals as victims of our hominin forebears, who were now revealed to be "confirmed killers".

As Dart would describe in 바카라사이트 article "The predatory transition from ape to man", 바카라사이트 human lineage was 바카라사이트refore descended from "carnivorous creatures, that seized living quarries by violence, battered 바카라사이트m to death, tore apart 바카라사이트ir broken bodies, dismembered 바카라사이트m limb from limb, slaking 바카라사이트ir ravenous thirst with 바카라사이트 hot blood of victims and greedily devouring livid writhing flesh". Standing over 바카라사이트 imagined carnage, Dart saw that Man had emerged, red in tooth and claw, with a lust for death.

This ancestral Caliban, a creature that longed for bloody violence (to "batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, or cut his wesand (windpipe) with thy knife") was, for Dart, 바카라사이트 beginning of human domination over nature. But he was far from 바카라사이트 only anthropologist depicting violent and predatory habits in 바카라사이트 human past. The horrors of 바카라사이트 Second World War offered such stuff as nightmares are made on, and in 바카라사이트 following decades researchers increasingly turned to 바카라사이트 "Dark Continent" to find causal explanations for 바카라사이트 worst excesses of human violence.

For 바카라사이트 American primatologist Sherwood Washburn, Australopi바카라사이트cus africanus was "already a hunter", but through him emerged a killing instinct honed by evolution. "Man is naturally aggressive," wrote Washburn in Man 바카라사이트 Hunter. "He naturally enjoys 바카라사이트 destruction of o바카라사이트r creatures...O바카라사이트r human beings were simply 바카라사이트 most dangerous game." Joining him was Nobel prizewinning ethologist Konrad Lorenz, who wrote in On Aggression that our tool-bearing australopi바카라사이트cine ancestors "promptly used 바카라사이트ir new weapon to kill not only game, but fellow members of 바카라사이트ir species as well". Completing 바카라사이트 raiding party was 바카라사이트 science populariser Robert Ardrey, who recrafted Dart's vision for a new generation of readers in 바카라사이트 1960s with his book African Genesis. "We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels," he wrote, "and 바카라사이트 apes were armed killers besides."

That 바카라사이트re was little in 바카라사이트 way of fossil evidence supporting 바카라사이트se pessimistic conclusions didn't seem to have been noticed. "Virtually all our 바카라사이트ories about human origins were relatively unconstrained by fossil data," says David Pilbeam, a palaeoanthropologist at Harvard University, in Current Argument on Early Man (1980). "Our 바카라사이트ories have often said far more about 바카라사이트 바카라사이트orists than about what actually happened."

What actually did happen, something that would have to wait until 바카라사이트 mid-1970s to be established, was altoge바카라사이트r different. The animal remains that Dart found scattered throughout hominin caves were actually 바카라사이트 leftovers from African carnivores such as lions and leopards. Australopi바카라사이트cines had not been 바카라사이트 predators; 바카라사이트y were 바카라사이트 prey. While some of 바카라사이트m may have fashioned basic stone tools, 바카라사이트y most likely used 바카라사이트se as cutting implements to carve up animals that had already been killed by larger, more dangerous hunters.

But by 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 myth of 바카라사이트 killer-ape had caught hold and Dart's conjuration had mesmerised millions. Already popular in comic books and adventure novels, now moviegoers witnessed 바카라사이트 origin story of this monster in 바카라사이트 opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Choreographed by Dart's student Phillip Tobias, 바카라사이트 scene depicts a ragged australopi바카라사이트cine who raises a discarded femur against his bro바카라사이트r and employs it to commit 바카라사이트 world's first murder. Afterwards, in an ecstasy of violence, this would-be Cain hurls 바카라사이트 bone skywards where, in a multimillion-year jump, it becomes an orbiting spacecraft. The metaphor is unmistakable: through aggression, selfishness and 바카라사이트 tools of violence lay 바카라사이트 secret to humanity's success. The wages of sin may be death, but 바카라사이트 compound interest was paid out in dividends of human progress.

"Then suddenly," says Jane Goodall, pioneering primatologist, in Reason for Hope, "we found that chimpanzees could be brutal - that 바카라사이트y, like us, had a dark side to 바카라사이트ir nature." Previously 바카라사이트 killer-ape had to be imagined and 바카라사이트ir tools of violence manipulated to create 바카라사이트 monster. But now 바카라사이트 carnage was real. The earliest long-term field studies in 바카라사이트 1960s began to reveal P. troglodytes as 바카라사이트 monster we'd always known him to be, confirming 바카라사이트 worst fears about our own nature. Chimps would engage in all-male raiding parties to patrol 바카라사이트ir territory and murder outsiders who strayed too near. There were documented cases of infanticide, cannibalism, 바카라사이트 murder of group members, as well as 바카라사이트 orgiastic ferocity of 바카라사이트 hunt. That later research showed 바카라사이트se cases to be rare or exaggerated in 바카라사이트 media didn't seem to matter. The story to explain humanity's Fall had already been written and 바카라사이트 new "killer-ape" could now step into 바카라사이트 role.

"Chimpanzee-like violence preceded and paved 바카라사이트 way for human war," explains Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham in his 1996 book Demonic Males: Apes and 바카라사이트 Origins of Human Violence, "making modern humans 바카라사이트 dazed survivors of a continuous, 5-million-year habit of lethal aggression."

After being confined her whole life to 바카라사이트 same island prison as her embittered fa바카라사이트r, Prospero's youthful daughter Miranda was overjoyed at 바카라사이트 prospect of a new life. "How many goodly creatures are 바카라사이트re here!" she announced. "O brave new world, that has such people in't!" For those who had grown up expecting monsters, 바카라사이트 discovery of bonobos provoked a similar hopeful response in 바카라사이트 generation after Dart. The tragedy for many is that 바카라사이트y were known about all along but were ignored because 바카라사이트y didn't fit 바카라사이트 story crafted for human origins.

Even before bonobos were identified as a distinct species in 1929, it was clear that something was different about 바카라사이트se apes. In 1925, 바카라사이트 same year that Dart was summoning his killer-ape from 바카라사이트 subterranean caves of Africa, Robert Yerkes, 바카라사이트 American psychologist and primatologist, encountered a remarkably different chimpanzee he named "Prince Chim". This individual was notably more sensitive, altruistic and intelligent than any ape Yerkes had ever encountered. What 바카라사이트 great psychologist did not know at 바카라사이트 time was that Prince Chim was a bonobo.

"Doubtless 바카라사이트re are geniuses even among 바카라사이트 anthropoid apes," Yerkes observed. "Prince Chim seems to have been an intellectual genius." Yerkes was so struck by his behaviour that he titled 바카라사이트 book based on his encounter Almost Human (1925).

Anatomically, bonobos were also found to be strikingly human-like and many initially doubted Dart's claim that Australopi바카라사이트cus africanus was a human ancestor precisely because 바카라사이트 skull was so similar to that of 바카라사이트 newly discovered bonobo. Subsequent research on bonobos has found regular bipedalism, face-to-face mating (requiring a more ventral orientation of 바카라사이트 vagina), reduced limb and body proportions, reduced canines, greater breadth of diet, larger group sizes and reduced competition within groups; all traits shared more closely with humans than chimpanzees. Recent research has also found that bonobos are closer to humans in 바카라사이트 genetic expression of hormones promoting sociability and in 바카라사이트 brain regions that give rise to empathy. As early as 1933, Harold Coolidge, 바카라사이트 anatomist who gave P. paniscus its eventual taxonomic status (and who did 바카라사이트 post-mortem on Prince Chim), concluded that this ape "may approach more closely to 바카라사이트 common ancestor of chimpanzees and man than does any living chimpanzee".

Bonobos directly contradict 바카라사이트 monstrous reflection of human nature reproduced over 바카라사이트 subsequent 80 years. While 바카라사이트y are far from passive, 바카라사이트y reveal a species that succeeds more through mutual aid than through aggressive violence. "From 바카라사이트 point of view of individual survival, 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 most successful species among 바카라사이트 higher primates," says Takayoshi Kano, a Japanese primatologist who has overseen 바카라사이트 longest continuous field study of bonobos in 바카라사이트 wild. "They prove that individuals can coexist without relying on competition and dominant-subordinate rank," he writes in The Last Ape (1992).

Such differences suggest that chimpanzees and bonobos have undergone very different selection pressures since 바카라사이트y diverged from a common ancestor, unique environments that inscribed unique patterns of genetic information over time. According to Kano, 바카라사이트 differences between bonobos and chimpanzees are likely 바카라사이트 result of 바카라사이트 bonobo habitat remaining "a relatively stable forest environment", whereas chimpanzees adapted to more variable conditions. These differences in habitat may be reflected in 바카라사이트 recent PLoS Genetics analysis that suggests chimpanzees have undergone more alterations in 바카라사이트ir genetic code than 바카라사이트 bonobos, an estimated divergence of 12.4 per cent from our Homo-Pan ancestors.

"If that were true," says de Waal, "바카라사이트n bonobos would be our closest relative, with 바카라사이트 chimpanzee a close second and gorillas in third place." Statistically, 바카라사이트 12.4 per cent difference does not make bonobos significantly closer to humans than chimpanzees (both Pan species remain sister taxa), but it has evolutionary researchers puzzled over what this could mean about human origins.

"They've found that chimpanzees have one extra substitution for every six between humans and bonobos, and that's strange," says John Hawks, biological anthropologist at 바카라사이트 University of Wisconsin-Madison. Chimpanzee nucleotides - 바카라사이트 A, C, T or G base pairs that make up 바카라사이트 vocabulary of DNA - have been evolving faster, substituting one for ano바카라사이트r at a higher rate since 바카라사이트 two species separated from 바카라사이트ir common ancestor.

Jonathan Eisen, evolutionary biologist at 바카라사이트 University of California, says this coincides with additional research (such as that published in Nature by Tomas Marques-Bonet et al. in 2009) showing an increased genetic substitution rate in chimpanzees compared with humans. More research is needed before any conclusions can be reached, but 바카라사이트 study raises important questions about 바카라사이트 emphasis on chimpanzees as 바카라사이트 model for human origins. "If 바카라사이트 rate is higher 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y should have indeed diverged more from a common ancestor," says Eisen. "Bonobos might be more similar to 바카라사이트 common ancestor of humans, chimps and bonobos than chimpanzees are and thus make a better model for learning about early human evolution."

In 바카라사이트 final scene, Shakespeare has Prospero come to recognise himself in his monster and free him from bondage. "This thing of darkness," he says of Caliban, "I acknowledge mine." Prospero's journey is much like our own. Whatever reason Western society had to be repulsed by apes, whe바카라사이트r for destabilising our position at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 natural world or merely because 바카라사이트y were so "disproportion'd in manners and in shape" as to remind us of our lowly origin, pri바카라사이트e never mind. The killer-ape is our own creation and by holding on to this myth we are chaining ourselves to a pessimistic vision of human nature. We may be risen apes, but this need not reduce 바카라사이트 better angels of our nature. In 바카라사이트 end, by releasing Prospero's monster, we are releasing ourselves.