Meganthropus

Meganthropus is a subspecies of the extinct hominid species, Homo erectus. Its full name in binomial nomenclature is Homo erectus palaeojavanicus although it was once called Meganthropus palaeojavanicus. Meganthropus was given a subspecies classification to distinguish it from other fossilized representatives of Homo erectus on account of its supposed enormous size. The species in largely based on a fossil record containing mostly teeth and some cranial material{{ref|material}}. Based on scant, but adequate, existing fossilized remains, H. e. palaeojavanicus has been estimated to have stood roughly 9 feet tall (= 2.75 m) and weighed roughly 750 to 1000 pounds (= 340-450 kg). Remains of this subspecies, including remnants of its cranium, lower jaw, and femur, have been estimated to be roughly 1 million years old.

Related Topics:
Homo erectus - Teeth - Cranial

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It should be mentioned that estimations of M. paleojavanicus' large size are not highly regarded by most anthropologists.

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Meganthropus is a good example of the great variation that existed in the Homo erectus line that is only equalled among representatives of the Homo genus by the similar variations found in modern humans. Its remains were discovered in Indonesia and supposedly in Australia where another subspecies of Homo erectus, Homo erectus soloensis, has also been supposedly discovered. Although once not considered to be of the Homo genus due to its seemingly improbable size for a hominid, Meganthropus remains were found along with tools normally associated with the Acheulean stone technology, and later study proved that the original physiological analysis of the fossils were incorrect {{ref|reanalysis}}.

Related Topics:
Homo - Modern humans - Indonesia - Australia - Homo erectus soloensis - Acheulean

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It is possible that the material found was a group of individuals that were within the standard variation for Homo erectus {{ref|material}}, but were labelled together and possibly influencing the characteristics of a possible sub-species.

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