Pithecanthropus erectus

Pithecanthropus erectus was the name first given to the Homo erectus specimen, also known as Java Man, by its discoverer Eugène Dubois. The word "pithecanthropos" was derived from Greek roots and means ape man. See also Peking Man.

Related Topics:
Homo erectus - Eugène Dubois - Peking Man

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Dubois' find was not a complete specimen, as many are led to believe, but consisted merely of a skullcap, a femur, and three teeth. A 342 page report written shortly after the find throws much doubt upon the validity of this particular specimen. Despite this, the Java Man is still found in many textbooks today. A second Java Man was later discovered in the village of Sangiran, Central Java, 18km to the north of Solo. His remains, a skullcap of similar size to that found by Dubois, was discovered by Berlin-born paleontologist GHR von Koenigswald in 1936, as a direct result of excavations by Dubois in 1891.

Related Topics:
Java - Solo - GHR von Koenigswald

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Until older human remains were discovered in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, Dubois' and Koenigswald's discoveries were the oldest hominid remains ever found, and the first cited as support for Charles Darwin's and Alfred Russell Wallace's theory of evolution. Many scientists of the day even suggested that Dubois' Java Man might have been the so-called "missing link", the creature that is supposed to provide the evolutionary connection between the apes and modern man. However, due to 19th Century scepticism, this theory was never credited to Dubois.

Related Topics:
Great Rift Valley - Kenya - Charles Darwin - Alfred Russell Wallace - Missing link - Ape

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