Pithecanthropus

[ pith-i-kan-thruh-puh s, -kuh n-throh-puh s ]

/ ˌpɪθ ɪˈkæn θrə pəs, -kənˈθroʊ pəs /

noun

a former genus of extinct hominids whose members have now been assigned to the proposed species Homo erectus.

Origin of Pithecanthropus

< New Latin (1891) < Greek píthēk(os) ape + ánthrōpos man

Example sentences from the Web for pithecanthropus

Volz says with justice, that even if Pithecanthropus is not the missing link, it is undoubtedly a missing link.

Evolution in Modern Thought |Ernst Haeckel
Maybe pithecanthropus had a monkey uncle, but no pithecanthropus ever went monkey.

Pariah Planet |Murray Leinster
If an ape, Pithecanthropus had an enormous brain; if a man, he must have verged on what we should consider idiocy.

Anthropology |Robert Marett
For example, 60,000 generations separate the earliest known anthropoid apes from Pithecanthropus.

The Last Link |Ernst Haeckel

Pithecanthropus raises the vexed question as to whether the erect attitude or brain development came first in the story.

Man, Past and Present |Agustus Henry Keane

British Dictionary definitions for pithecanthropus

pithecanthropus

/ (ˌpɪθɪkænˈθrəʊpəs, -ˈkænθrə-) /

noun plural -pi (-ˌpaɪ)

any primitive apelike man of the former genus Pithecanthropus, now included in the genus Homo See Java man, Peking man

Derived forms of pithecanthropus

pithecanthropine or pithecanthropoid, adjective

Word Origin for pithecanthropus

C19: New Latin, from Greek pithēkos ape + anthrōpos man

Scientific definitions for pithecanthropus