# That "Evolution of Man" drawing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196 "2003-08-14T17:31:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/1 "2003-08-14T17:31:45Z")
You know that drawing with the stages of evolution, from ape, through savage, to intelligent man? You know, the one that’s been ripped off in [countless](http://tortech.com.au/alex/evolution.jpg) [cartoons](http://www.netzig.de/bilder/netzhumor/bilder/evolution.jpg)? Anyone know who originally did it, and where? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/2 "2003-08-14T17:45:28Z")
Don’t forget the classic, [Encino Man](http://www.impawards.com/1992/encino_man.html). I’m curious about the original too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/3 "2003-08-14T18:31:00Z")
The illustration, known as “The March of Progress,” is by Rudy Zallinger, and was first published in _Early Man_, a 1970 Time-Life book written by paleoanthropologist F. Clark Howell. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/4 "2003-08-14T18:47:40Z")
Thanks, **Colibri**. It’s amazing that the origin of such an iconic image is not better known. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/5 "2003-08-14T18:51:12Z")
I’m surprised that it was first published so late. I thought it had been around longer than that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/6 "2003-08-14T19:13:31Z")
Me, too. But Colibri knows his stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/7 "2003-08-14T19:25:24Z")
Rudolph Zallinger is also known for his mural “The Age of Reptiles” at the Yale Peabody Museum… [http://www.peabody.yale.edu/mural/](http://www.peabody.yale.edu/mural/) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/8 "2003-08-14T20:22:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > \*\*I’m surprised that it was first published so late. I thought it had been around longer than that. \*\* I’m sure there had been earlier “March-of-Progress” type illustrations of evolution preceding Zallinger’s, but his - starting with a gibbon-like ape and ending with a striding Cro-Magnon with a spear - is the iconic one. I recall reading _Early Man_ when it first came out and being struck by the image then. [Rudolph Zallinger](http://www.peabody.yale.edu/people/whoswho/ZallingerRF.html) ---
**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-evolution-of-man-drawing/195196/9 "2003-08-14T20:47:49Z")
There was the [Supertramp](http://images.umvd.com/toenails/B1A84820903311D5B7D900508BA2514D.jpg) album cover as well.