hominin

American  

[hom-uh-nin] / ˈhɒm ə nɪn /

noun

Anthropology, Zoology.

1. any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and their immediate ancestors, specifically members of the tribe Hominini.

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Etymology

Origin of hominin

First recorded in 1985–90; from New Latin Hominīnī, equivalent to Latin homin- (stem of homō ) “human being, man” + -īnī (plural of the adjective suffix -īnus indicating origin or affiliation); Homo ( def. ), -ine ¹ ( def. ) )

Compare meaning

How does hominin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• hominin vs. hominid

Example Sentences

A newly published study in Nature describes the discovery of the first known Paranthropus fossil from Ethiopia's Afar region, uncovered about 1000 km north of where this ancient hominin had previously been found.

From Science Daily

The fossil record includes more than 15 known hominin species, which generally fall into four broad groups:

From Science Daily

"Discoveries like this really trigger interesting questions in terms of reviewing, revising, and then coming up with new hypotheses as to what the key differences were between the main hominin groups."

From Science Daily

"This fossil remains one of the most important discoveries in the hominin record and its true identity is key to understanding our evolutionary past," Dr. Martin said.

From Science Daily

Dr. Clarke deserves credit for the discovery of Little Foot, and being one of the only people to maintain there were two species of hominin at Sterkfontein.

From Science Daily